The Associated Students of UC Irvine’s (ASUCI) Art Lab Commission held its annual spring student art exhibition “Daydreams in Bloom” on May 12.
Students filtered through the Pacific Ballroom in the Student Center to view 27 works of traditional and digital art, photography and literature. Attendees were offered coloring books filled with submitted student artworks, free pastries from Porto’s Bakery and AriZona iced teas.
Art Lab Commissioners Emma Sanchez and Kaysel Dancel hosted the event and wanted to keep the theme of “Daydreams in Bloom” as open for interpretation as possible.
“We kind of bounced around a few different ones,” Dancel told New University. “We were just like, it’s spring. We wanted the theme to just not be very limited. We wanted it to be like imagination, creativity overall in general, to not limit it too much.”
Artists tackled subjects such as rebirth, hope, resilience and change, which were explained in the artist statements accompanying each piece.
“Yeah. I was really happy with all of the literature submissions. I’m a writer, and it was just so cool to see all the different ways that people interpreted it. I think that some people chose a more personal route,” Sanchez told New University. “I think a lot of the photography was capturing the world in springtime, and that’s really cool to see. But it’s always fun to see people’s emotional interpretations of the theme, too.”
One art display featured fourth-year art student Aejin Yi’s grandparents photographed in and around their home in a series called “GRAND.”
“It’s cute seeing how they have their own routines. Part of me wants to keep capturing my grandparents so that they can ‘live on.’ The typical American Dream … My grandparents moved from Korea to California in hopes of building a better life. They have lived here for more than 50 years, and they have built themselves a home,” Yi wrote in their artist statement.
Third-year business economics student Nora Tang’s painting of Aldrich Park, titled “Aldrich at Noon,” was made using oil paint on wood.
“The fleeting essence of a daydream is captured through the speed with which the painting was created, light, fluffy brushstrokes and a wet-on-wet technique,” Tang wrote in their artist statement. “The natural setting and lush greenery are in line with the theme of ‘Bloom’ as it evokes ideas of growth and flourishing. With the painting being of Aldrich Park, it conveys the pursuit of higher education through which a person can ‘bloom.’”
One student’s digital artwork, titled “The Price of Education,” was made using the digital art tool Procreate and depicted student financial aid insecurity.
“Connected to the theme of hope, I hope one day students can all be financially supported,” second-year mathematics major Isabelle Tran wrote in their artist statement. “I want students to be able to focus on succeeding and helping others, building themselves up as people.”
Second-year English and Chinese studies student Ashley Thornton attended the showcase to see her poem “ashwood” featured. The poem was inspired by a figurine made by the Chinese art-inspired collectible series Skullpanda.
Thornton also pursues other unique inspirations for her work, such as the sound of a word or literature written in other languages.
“Even if it’s in English, I think that reading even just translations of different poetic voices and stuff really helps your voice to be more balanced,” Thornton told New University. “So that it doesn’t sound like just one person. If all you read is Margaret — Margaret Atwood’s great — but then you’re only going to sound like Margaret Atwood.”
Although Thornton wrote “ashwood” before the exhibition was announced, she experimented with different interpretations when editing her poem with the theme in mind.
“I’d say that the — I was also [thinking about] this idea that daydreams aren’t necessarily always super sunny. Daydreams can be kind of almost like jolting you awake from when you’re just thinking in the middle of the day,” Thornton said.
Representatives from ASUCI, the Anteater Artists club and the Art History Undergraduate Association chose one winner from each category to receive a $50 prize, which was announced in an email sent to participants on Friday, May 16. The prize in the traditional category was awarded to “밥 잘 챙겨먹어” by Aejin Yi, the digital category prize went to “In the Ice” by Sarah Hayoung Yoo, the photography prize went to “Infinite Possibilities Optimistic Sky reflected back” by Sia Aggarwal and the literature prize went to “Spring, Unraveled” by Marlo Mulligan.
Attendees also voted on their favorite piece to receive an Fan Favorite mention, which went to Yoo.
Emma Richman is a Features Intern for the spring 2025 quarter. She can be reached at richmane@uci.edu.
Edited by Annia Pallares zur Nieden and Jaheem Conley.