BEAST students’ imaginative skills were on full display April 23 during Fullerton’s first BEAST Art Show Exhibition. Featuring projects from students in Biological Arts Design Engineering (BADE) and Creative Arts Design Engineering (CADE), the show highlighted original creature sculptures and life-sized builds with fantasy and science fiction elements.
Students were given the freedom to create their own original creatures by combining different animals and mythical beings. Below are interviews from four students that give insight into the tedious process behind each piece, from sketching concepts and sculpting clay models to assembling the final displays.
Audrina Gamboa
Senior Audrina Gamboa and their group members, Audrey Austin, Christina Hernandez, and Franky Sambrano, created a life-sized scarecrow titled “Strawbi-Wan-Kenoni,” inspired by the Batman villain Scarecrow and the old-timey machinery of steampunk. The character tells the story of an inventor who survives a failed experiment and rebuilds himself using scraps and machinery.
“All of us agreed on a darker approach, something weird and new,” Gamboa said. “Thinking of something original was definitely a struggle since there were so many ideas yet so little time.”
The group spent roughly a semester designing and building the project. Despite not knowing each other previously, the members communicated their interests and inspirations through Pinterest boards and sketches. Afterwards, they split responsibilities and tasks among mechanics, painting, costume design, and sewing.
“Another teammate and I worked on a color palette to make things darker and more realistic. Christina worked on the mechanics for the chest and made the mask. Franky would sew the patches and occasionally paint. Audrey worked on the gloves, and I worked on the chest and coat,” Gamboa said. “All work was distributed evenly for a quicker process.”
Gamboa said one of the most memorable moments was hooking up the mechanics to run Strawbi-Wan-Kenoni and seeing visitors react to their creation in person.
“Once we hooked up the mechanics to the project and actually saw it run, it was exhilarating,” they said. “Even the final assembly of the project was rewarding; we did it together– we made that!”
Dayana Carbajal
Junior Dayana Carbajal designed a colorful, mystical creature titled “Quix Chex Mix,” featuring elements of a unicorn, a fox, a deer, and fictional characters like Venom and The Cheshire Cat. The project was created independently, which helped reflect Carbajal’s creative personality.
“The concept was inspired by the idea of combining fantasy with a bit of a mischievous twist,” Carbajal said. “Which, like a lot of people, that’s just the way I am.”
Students in BADE were given the freedom to combine four creatures or animals into one original design. Carbajal began by sketching ideas before sculpting her creature in oil-based clay and creating a plaster mold for the final latex mask.
“I experimented with different shapes, textures, and details while sculpting to make my design more interesting,” Carbajal said. “Using different materials like clay, latex, and paint helped me think creatively about how to bring my idea to life in a realistic way.”
Carbajal completed her project in a little more than a month, with planning and executing taking up most of the time and effort. However, she says seeing the final product made it all worth it in the end.
“The most rewarding part was seeing my idea come to life, though figuring out the colors was definitely a challenge,” Carbajal said. “In the end, I knew what I wanted.”
Carbajal encourages future BEAST students to stay patient throughout the creation process and enjoy watching their ideas come to life. “Enjoy the process and have fun with it,” she said. “Because seeing your creature come to life is really rewarding.”
Blair Cuevas
Junior Blair Cuevas drew inspiration from media like Dungeons & Dragons, The Dark Crystal, and The Lord of the Rings when designing their creature for the art show.
“We had a lot of creative freedom since we were assigned to take inspiration from any animal or mythical creature we wanted to,” Cuevas said. “So everyone had a unique design.”
Cuevas first designed the creature on paper, then sculpted it in clay and created a plaster mold. After removing the clay, they poured latex into the mold and painted the final cast using acrylic paint and alcohol paints. The project took them approximately four months to complete.
“The most difficult part was definitely scooping and scraping every last bit of clay out of my plaster mold,” Cuevas said. “It was super time-consuming and difficult to get into the teeny tiny spaces.”
Cuevas also described helping prepare for the exhibition alongside other BEAST students.
“All the BEAST program classes spent multiple class periods setting it all up, bringing the tables in, arranging our projects, and hanging things on the walls,” they said. “Being the first BEAST show and all, it was really cool seeing everyone’s projects on display and being recognized for all that we do.”
According to Cuevas, the exhibition had one of the largest turnouts the visual arts gallery has ever seen. They said this exposure will hopefully bring more interested and creative students together
Kameron Curtis
Junior Kameron Curtis created her creature design by incorporating several mythical beings and fictional characters, drawing inspiration from dragons, spiders, sirens, and the movie franchise Avatar. Curtis said the idea came to her thanks to a close friend’s interest in the Avatar films.
“One of my best friends, Reanna, is obsessed with the Avatar movies and dragged me into an Avatar rabbit hole,” she said. “So when my BADE teacher, Ms. Q [Mrs. McQuown], assigned this project, I knew right away Avatar needed to be a part of it.”
Curtis said her goal was to create something both mesmerizing and intimidating, hence her emphasis on the distinctive and unique features of her design.
“I knew I needed my creature to be beautiful and striking, especially since it focused on Avatar characters,” Curtis said.
“That’s why adding the dragon, spider, and siren features into the mix was so important to me because they are all intimidating but eye-catching creatures.”
Curtis began by drawing up concept sketches before sculpting the creature in clay around a foil base to reduce weight. After finishing the base sculpture, she created a plaster mold, removed the clay, and poured silicone latex into the mold to form the final mask.
“The painting on the silicone was probably the most difficult part, honestly,” she said. “The fins, unfortunately, didn’t make it through that step, so I had to pivot to foam clay.”
Although the piece took several weeks for Curtis to complete, she said the final product was overall very rewarding.
Just like other students in the BEAST program, Curtis also helped to prepare the art show before opening night by arranging displays and setting up the artwork in the gallery.
“Overall, the exhibit was very successful and well spread out,” she said. “Everyone who helped in the process of setting it up did a great job.”
