Meagan Bourne | Banner Megan James, senior art major, expresses her passion for drawing by filling in the patterns of repition on her page using a mundane writing tool in order to express herself.
Bent forward only slightly to maintain her posture while she sketches, Megan James, senior art major, stays poised in all aspects of her art.
James spent her summer in Belize working as a sketch artist for an archaeological program. James said a colleague of her father’s at the University of California, Riverside, wanted her to teach a ceramics class but she could not due to budget restraints.
“They have all these Mayan sites there and when they excavate them they find all these artifacts,” James said. “They need someone to draw these artifacts because photographs don’t really do them justice, so I was the sketch artist.”
Currently working as an art teacher for fifth through 12th grade students, James keeps herself busy as she enters the world as an artist. She opened her first exhibit in Los Angeles Sept. 20, where she uses her drawings to tackle the theme of “skewed perceptions.” What James describes as the struggle between the individual and the whole of society can be seen through her use of the illusion of repetition.
Kristine Lippire, assistant professor of visual art, attests to James’ natural ability.
“Some students just follow instructions to the letter,” Lippire said. “In art we are looking for someone who is pushing the boundaries of what has been asked and what has been done before, into making more challenging and difficult work. This is definitely Megan.”
Only one printmaking class away from graduating, James said she will head into getting her master’s degree in studio art. She specializes in drawing but also works with ceramics and is working her way into sculpture and installation.
“Drawing has kind of always been there; it’s what made me really dive into the conceptual side,” James said. “I really love ceramics and creating the perfect form. It’s just this beautiful art form.”
