The “Abstracted” art gallery was held at the Santa Clarita Artists Association at Old Town Newhall, located on Sixth Street, from Aug. 18 to Sept. 21.  The gallery gave individuals, including West Ranch students Roohi Ranpura and Samantha Thai, the opportunity to share their passion within our community, look at various pieces of artwork beyond realism and gain a deeper understanding of abstraction.

   The SCAA gallery transformed its usual landscapes, portraits and artwork into a vivid showcase of abstraction, highlighting bold colors, lively shapes and expressive imagination. Abstractions differentiate from realism, emphasizing the representation of various artworks from multiple perspectives.

   Abstraction in art invokes creativity in viewers in a way realism cannot. “So often with realism you can tell what the portrait is, you know you can tell what Landscape is, you know what a horse is and I think abstraction really allows people to expand [their mind] completely,” SCAA Gallery Chair Tobi Beck described. Abstraction escapes the boundaries of representational boundaries in art, allowing artists to explore different perspectives from their seemingly “secluded” world.

   Abstraction can be a learning experience for those newly introduced to art. The gallery featured artists from various backgrounds who showcased their passion for different types of portraits. When asked about special moments in the gallery, Beck recalled a memory of artists demonstrating growth through a solo exhibition: “One of the artists came in and she was just looking around, going ‘I wish that I could see this, I’m so scared.’ [A year later] I saw her working at her own solo show.”

   New artists often grow from being hesitant to showing their work to selling their first artwork through the SCAA gallery. “We have artists from all levels, all backgrounds and often people are showing [their art] for the very first time, so you get to see their growth,” Beck elaborated. As her role of SCAA Gallery Chair progresses, Beck witnesses a multitude of artists displaying their work in the exhibit.

   Among the next generation of artists is West Ranch sophomore Roohi Ranpura, a student in AP Art History who also creates her own artwork. She described abstract art as “free-flowing, chaotic, [and] separated yet together.” She continued by emphasizing abstraction’s power to express ideas and emotions without relying on recognizable forms of traditional art.

   When asked about where her inspiration is driven from, Ranpura explained, “Generally, when making a piece, I default to works made by others that I feel connected to or that stand out to me. [Visualizing] is also a big part, just thinking about what exactly I want to make and how I would set it up in my head helps me plan things out for when I actually create something.”

   Classmate and sophomore Samantha Thai shared her perspective on how abstraction impacts artists today: “To me, abstract art is emotion in its rawest form. It’s not about what something looks like, it’s about how it makes you feel,” Thai expressed. “It allows you to break rules and still make something meaningful.”

   As she continues to develop her talents, Thai reminisced on how her art journey began and shared, “I started creating art in middle school, and it was like a gateway to freely express myself in different ways. Abstract art has always been my personal choice when drawing because it allows me to have creative freedom without the boundaries realism or other forms of art require.”

   Thai plans on participating in the Abstracted Art Exhibit in the upcoming years: “I would definitely see myself uploading a submission because having an exhibit to showcase my work to others in the community would be really cool.” This gallery provides young, underground artists, such as Thai, opportunities to share their artistic abilities within a larger community in Old Town Newhall. 

   “I think abstraction should get some recognition, as it is a very basic form of art that we all probably used while drawing when we were younger without even realizing it,” Ranpura emphasized. For young artists, abstraction goes beyond artistic style, representing a way to express ideas through various shapes, lines and colors. 

   Abstraction has shaped contemporary art, liberating it from the limitations of realistic representation. Students are able to foster new means of expression and promote their works at the Abstracted SCAA Art Exhibition. Cats, make sure to immerse yourself in other forms of art and keep up with these talented Wildcats as they progress through their artistic journey!