Senior art major Diana Pearson prepares to showcase her work in the Weisman exhibition ‘Disclosure.’
By Peter Celauro
Staff Writer
There are students at Pepperdine for whom career and calling are two separate worlds. They come home at night to indulge their love of music or art by singing or painting. For these students, after school is the only time they have to free themselves from the stress of education.
Diana Pearson is not one of those students. A senior art major, she chose her field of study so she could involve her love of the arts and passion for expression in everything she does at Pepperdine, both in the classroom and out.
“I knew I didn’t want to be involved in a career-oriented major,” Pearson said. “I wanted a major I chose based on what I was good at and to find a career that uses that gift.”
For Pearson, that decision has paid off. April 15, she and four other art majors will present their work at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum. The exhibition, “Disclosure,” will be the culmination of all her hard work at Pepperdine and proof that her four years here have improved her skills.
Pearson has been involved in the arts for as long as she can remember.
“Growing up, I’ve always loved art,” she said. “Visual arts, music, audio arts, writing. To me, they’ve always been kind of a natural outlet. When I was young, my mother would buy me coloring books – but I always ended up drawing outside the lines; I didn’t want to be bothered by staying in the lines when I was expressing myself.”
Her interest grew as she got older, and in high school she found herself painting in acrylic paints and oil pastels. When she was introduced to oil paint in her freshman painting class, she knew she’d found her medium of choice. The use of oils means artists can add or subtract layers from the piece as they choose, a process Pearson says fits her style well.
She didn’t have such a precise idea of what she wanted to begin with, however. Her style evolved through years of practice and extensive time spent with her fellow art majors.
“It’s a pretty small group, and I think we’re pretty aware of each other’s work because we’ve worked together since we were freshmen,” Pearson said. “We have definitely formed a community where we’ve begun to influence each other. Our work expresses who we are individually, but we’ve influenced each other by working together.”
The five women have also worked together to organize “Disclosure.” They are responsible for every part of the exhibition, from the look of the reception to the way the pieces are hung. With the help of advisor Joe Piasentin, these art majors work together to ensure that the Weisman looks as professional and impressive as it would with a famous painter’s work inside.
“Joe is one of the blessings of our program,” Pearson said. “He definitely keeps us accountable to doing work that’s up to par. One thing he said to me a couple weeks back is that I’m not responsible for making art people like, but I am responsible for making good paintings and doing my best work.”
Her self-described best work, a series of 36-inch-by-36-inch oil paintings, will fit the exhibition’s theme well – like the other students’ pieces, Pearson’s deal with revealing something that would usually remain under the surface.
“It means something different to each of us,” she said. “The theme comes through in the way we paint, or the subject matter … and most important, the internal aspect, revealing something about you and who you are with what you’re painting.”
What Pearson is painting is mainly a contrast between the living and the inanimate – organic, rounded lines versus strong, sharp ones. The “revealed” female form provides the perfect subject for the living part of her theme, but she had a hard time finding subjects – Pepperdine doesn’t allow its art department to bring in nude models.
“That’s an embarrassment,” Pearson said of the policy. “When I have to display a portfolio to graduate schools and it doesn’t deal with nudes at all – that’s a joke.”
The problem is just another part of what Pearson calls Pepperdine’s under-appreciation for art. She said the art department doesn’t receive much money, and the board of administrators doesn’t recognize that art is a discipline as much as any other, such as business administration.
“The university’s been missing out on a culture and discipline that is necessary for diversity and growth on this campus,” she said. “It’s sad.”
Still, Pearson isn’t unhappy with her Pepperdine art education.
“I feel like the professors and students have fostered an environment of us nurturing one another,” she said. “I definitely feel like I’ve been improving. Now it’s time to present our work as if we were practicing for a recital. You have to show that you are growing and improving rapidly, that you’re serious about your work. For us, this is our big moment.”
“Disclosure” will appear April 15 through May 1 at the Henry Weisman Museum. For more information, call the Weisman Museum at (310) 506.4851.
Submitted April 1, 2004