Encinitas artist combines ‘Organic Elements’ in hometown exhibit

North County Times – Escondido,CA,USA
Encinitas artist Jacqueline Appel is getting a reputation in Los
Angeles for her vibrant multimedia works. Yet she is virtually unknown in
her hometown. …

Encinitas artist Jacqueline Appel is getting a reputation in Los Angeles for her vibrant multimedia works. Yet she is virtually unknown in her hometown.

She hopes to change that with her current exhibit at the Encinitas Civic Center Art Gallery. Titled “Organic Elements,” the show can be divided into four sections —- sea elements, botanical elements, solar elements and organic elements.

“It’s all the different elements that make up our world,” said Appel, who graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in 2005 with a degree in visual art. “For as long as I can remember, I have had visions of intense, vibrant images that I give tangible physical expression using a variety of material —- clay, paint, fabric, glass, wood, metal and found objects.”

In fact, that’s what makes Appel unique as an artist. Although her primary focus is sculpture, she also paints. Often she combines media for something completely different.

“I want these realized expressions to convey the passion and energy I feel in creating them,” she said. “For me, both the creative process and its realized expression incite passion, optimism and even inspire your own creative process.”

Her true passion is installation art, which allows her to combine mediums and materials quite freely.

“I like to work with anything I can get my hands on,” she said. “I love the smell of sawdust and the feel of clay. I love creating three-dimensional objects. There’s something about sculpture —- creating an object where it starts to have its own life.”

Mosaics figure in heavily to her portfolio, especially those with three-dimensional elements.

“I love glass and touching it,” she said. “It reminds me of beach glass.”

That sense of touching and experiencing is what she wants to convey to viewers.

“I like things that have a raw quality,” she said. “We need to go back to those senses, whether we’re an artist, doctor or athlete. We tend to lose that quality over time and life should be that pure. But the line has gotten blurred. I’m not going to let that happen.”

The 20 mosaic-based works in the Civic Center Gallery include a free-standing fountain, sculptures and wall hangings. She creates these three-dimensional works in a free-flow method without the benefit of working drawings.

“When people see my work, they see who I am,” she said. “When you look at my work, you see me. English is my second language, art is my first. I was just born this way.”