Artist in Residence: Clare Rojas

Our two Visiting Artist Residencies are unique and vital parts of the Oxbow semester. OS34 is fortunate to have Clare Rojas as their first Artist in Residence, and her time here has been marked by spirited discussion on forging a career for yourself in the arts, gender inequality, taking care of oneself and harnessing one's agency, as well as opened up thought on how one may evolve as an artist over time. Read on for Trinity's reflections on Clare's time here:

This week at Oxbow, students were given the outstanding opportunity to create within the spirit of collaboration and community. This collaborative process was strengthened by Ms. Rojas's lecture, where we became familiar with her art and artistic process. During studio time, Ms. Rojas used poetry and the exquisite corpse activity to stimulate a growth of intellectual and inventive ideas. Using this momentum, we are creating two painting projects in the studios. 

As a group, students wrote poetry using the exquisite corpse model. Afterward, each student selected a poem from which to create abstract imagery that spoke to that poem's character. Siddhi has documented that process across the studios:

 check out our Instagram for more images of Clare's residency.

Early Days vs Early Break

OS34 is enjoying a well deserved long weekend off campus! They've completed the first month of classes and upon their return will meet their first Visiting Artist, Clare Rojas, who will be in residence for ten days. In honor of Early Break, this week's blogging team decided to mine OS34's early days for some throwback shots.  They have collected these suite self-portraits for you of each suite during the Orientation Scavenger Hunt through Napa.

West D in front of our neighbor The SLACK Collective

East D with one of the more important businesses in Napa

West A at home

West B's more dramatic spin at SLACK

West C at ACE Hardware aka Patrick's 2nd home

East C (+ a local) hits up our pals at the Napa Bookmine 

East A at a spot all our alums will recognize...the holy ground of Community Projects

Place(s)

Lauren B reflects on Oxbow's Place Project:

In our first few weeks at Oxbow, we have undergone rotations of three different art classes, with our time in each studio lasting about one week. Each rotation had an assignment based on three themes: “Observation,” “Place,” or “Narrative.”  I just finished my time in New Media (a combination of video and photography), where we chose a place to tell a story about in a film.

The assignment entailed recording sounds, both natural and self-generated, filming different aspects of our chosen ‘place,’ and assembling our final product using Adobe Premiere. The project was extremely open-ended in the sense that we could depict a feeling behind a significant memory, tell the story of us using place as a metaphor, the story of a place as we see it, or the story of something important and transformative occurring in said place. I decided to opt for the last topic, and I chose The Oxbow School as my place.

For my project, I wanted to showcase the changes that students undergo upon arriving at Oxbow, as I have already seen it clearly in both myself and my peers just within the past couple weeks we’ve been here. When we go somewhere new, we are completely unaware of what is to come. Along the way, we absorb everything we learn, much like a blank canvas being painted on. To get this message across in my film, I put together footage of the campus, the studios, students working on their projects, and gathered several people as my subjects to demonstrate the analogy of blank canvases being painted on.

New Media has been my favorite art class so far, because I feel like I have learned so much in such a small amount of time. I am an avid photographer, so I knew I would enjoy the course, but I am becoming increasingly interested in film after spending time putting together a video with a concept I am passionate about!

- Lauren B

Watch Lauren's video here

OS34: What I Live For

Many of you know that Oxbow students engage in a close reading of Walden in their first month here. In response to the chapter "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For," each Oxbowhemian is asked to write a short piece on what they themselves live for. This is accompanied by a particularly special and potent exercise, which Juniper and Max have recounted for you here. Of huge importance to our program is the cultivation of solitude and being alone with one's thoughts long enough for them to blossom and explore all the crazy and unprecedented ideas that might otherwise be dismissed. The hike that Juniper and Max are reflecting upon is an early keystone of that goal:

Section 2 went on a nature walk as the conclusion to our most recent Connections project. Our hearts and minds were expanded by the exploration of this beautiful natural setting. As a group, we delved into the study of what we live for as seen through the lens of Thoreau's ideas surrounding nature and the human spirit. As our second week at The Oxbow School comes to a close, we are growing closer as a group and learning to incorporate deep personal introspection with the creation of art. 

Juniper S.

On February 3rd and 4th, each of the three humanities classes went on a hike at Westwood Hills in Napa. The hike began with Alex, our Environmental Science teacher, familiarizing us with some of the flora and fauna in the reserve. After going for a short hike uphill, we all gathered around in a circle. At this point, we all did breathing exercises to relax our mind and bodies. In doing so, we were able to let go of our preoccupations and fully engage with nature. We then walked with about 15 feet between each of us in a single file along a trail through the reserve. During this time, each of us explored the area and took in our surroundings - ignoring all else. The experience was relaxing and gave us the opportunity to appreciate the natural environment. Once we had all reached the end of the trail, we gathered underneath a grove of large oak trees. Sitting under the foliage, we proceeded to share our manifestos that answered the question of why we live. There was a wide range of approaches we took to writing the assignment. The styles ranged from poetry to casual storytellings. Writing about what each of us lives for is a daunting task, let alone sharing such personal information amongst peers that we have known for less than a month. Each student was able to overcome these challenges. In doing the exercise, our understanding of one another deepened. We all got to know one another on a completely different level.

Max C.

photos: Juniper S.