Just an Illusion
May 13 - June 9, 2023
Reception: May 13, 6 – 8 pm
The Oak Cliff Cultural Center is pleased to present Just an Illusion, a group exhibition featuring the work of Mylan Nguyen, Brent Ozaeta, and Taro Waggoner. Long time collaborators, the three have worked on several exhibitions, installations, and projects together including Super Fantasy Mercado and the Dallas Zine Fest. All three artists are multi-racial Asian Americans whose artwork has been influenced or inspired by Japanese pop culture exports like manga and anime. The work shares a foundation in printmaking and a focus on stylized illustration to communicate personal themes.
Through the mediums of ceramics, illustration, and printmaking, Mylan Nguyen invites the viewer into a world of “cute and playful characters in an exploration of magic, healing, and interconnectedness”. Working in multiples of individual ceramic sculptures and prints, Mylan builds a narrative, immersive installation where symbols, sigils, and talismans illustrate her personal mythology and reinforce the ability to “manifest desires and transformation”.
Brent Ozaeta’s works on paper and paintings feature fragmented landscapes built from digitally collaged imagery inspired by Japanese animé and manga. Known for his flat graphic style, Ozaeta is interested in the interplay of color and pattern. Densely layered with references to Japanese pop culture, his compositions characterize the fantasy of the manga world. Though his works are intentionally non-narrative, they “evoke emotions ranging from melancholy to ecstasy” and illustrate his “pangs of nostalgia for Japan, a country whose cultural exports heavily influence him”.
Art, Sports, Consumerism, and Michael Jordan are at the core of Taro Waggoner’s newest body of work. Recalling the Chicago Bulls championship run, Waggoner says, “forever embedded Michael Jordan in my brain as a synonym for success.” In Just an Illusion, Waggoner focuses on Jordan’s shoes as an iconic symbol of status and success. His ceramic sculptures translate the iconic sneakers, fusing them with his own style and perspective in a reinterpretation that is an homage to greatness and a “reminder that with a little effort we too can ‘Be Like Mike’ in our own struggles”. In the words of the fictional character, Mars Blackmon, “It’s gotta be the shoes”.
Born 1986 in Dallas, Texas, Mylan Nguyen is a Vietnamese/Mexican American artist. She received her BFA in Illustration from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles and her MFA from Southern Methodist University. She also studied ceramics in Japan at Jic Ceramic Studio in Shibuya, Furuki Studio in Mashiko, Japan, and the Infinite School in Los Angeles. Mylan has led art workshops throughout DFW including Oil and Cotton, The Nasher Sculpture Center, The Fort Worth Modern, The Latino Cultural Center, and the Oak Cliff Cultural Center. She is also a co-founder for Strange Powers Press, a small risograph printing press in Dallas with a focus on illustrated small multiples.
Brent Ozaeta is a Dallas-based painter/printmaker. He works also on a variety of other projects including zines, gig-posters, and t-shirt designs. Ozaeta was a recipient of the Dallas Museum of Art Degoyler artist award, has been featured in New American Paintings and was included in the Texas Biennial. His work will also be featured at Meow Wolf, a large-scale immersive art attraction opening in Grapevine, TX in summer 2023.
Taro Waggoner is a Japanese/American folk artist based out of Dallas, Texas. Heavily inspired by manga, anime, and illustration, Taro navigates topics such as growing up straddling two cultures in the American South, struggles with identity, mental health, and observations of his community. Taro’s current body of work focuses on ceramic sculptures, zines and mini comics printed on the RISO project he runs with his wife, Strange Powers Press.
 |
|
RISO WORKSHOP
Join Brent Ozaeta and Taro Waggoner for a RISO Workshop on May 27, 2023 at 12 noon - 2 PM
Learn how to RISO with Strange Powers Press. This workshop will include a demo and brief history of the printing practice as well as your chance to make your own 2 color print. Participants will walk away with 10-15 copies of their unique prints.
Sign up by clicking the button below.
|
School of Yes!
APPLY TODAY, DEADLINE IS MAY 12
The School of YES! is our FREE month-long summer camp in June and July for ages 7–18! In all of our programs, students are taught by respected professional artists from the DFW community that are not just successful, but also look like the students they are teaching.
In The School of YES!, classes will emphasize communication skills, collaboration, and the creation of original artwork through theatre, music, dance, visual arts, film-making, photography, and leadership instruction!
The School of YES! provides students the courage and tools to pursue their own projects in their own communities, thus strengthening cultural and community relations while providing a sense of ownership and strong social responsibility.
Say YES! To Cara Mia’s School of YES! summer camp and apply today!
For more information and to apply click the button below.
|
 Kali Marz Live
at Oak Cliff Cultural Center
|
May 26, 8 PM
An electric jungle, a place so magical...
Kali Marz, a soulful and electric singer/songwriter from Texas is an upcoming artist who brings their unique vibes to the sonic spectrum of House/Electronic Music. With a passionate and spiritual delivery, Kali has collaborated with artists in other countries, most recently DJ/Producer duo In House on their single Desire, open mics and showcases throughout their hometown, Dallas/Fort Worth. Kali grew up in Fort Worth, Texas in a musically gifted family. Kali received their first informal music training from their father who would sit them down and play music from The Winans and have them to mimic or repeat and harmonize with the singers. As Kali grew into their own musical discovery, they became influenced by unique, otherworldly, ethereal and gutsy singers, like Chaka Khan, Yukimi Nagano (Little Dragon), Sarah Vaughn, Rahsaan Patterson, Faith Evans, Sylvester, and Boy George to name a few, but also felt drawn to unique and electronic sounds. Kali is that conduit between the ethereal and the electric, the analog and the digital. Kali is one of the newest artists signed to SO Fierce Music Founded by Artist/Producer Velvet Code. Kali feels that being Black and Queer has helped to shape their musical identity and view of the world.
FREE
Texas Taco Vato will have food for purchase.
Limited seating. RSVP required.
|
Oak Cliff Cultural Center
Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday
12 PM - 6 PM
Phone: 214-670-3777
 Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.
SUBSCRIBER SERVICES:
Manage Subscriptions | Unsubscribe All | Help
|
