Exhibition information:

• Artist: Sienna Browne
• Exhibition: Product Of The Palette Solo Exhibition
• Media: multimedia – sculpture, drawing, weaving, writing, painting
• Gallery: Black Umbrella Tattoo and Art Gallery
• Instagram: @siennabrowneart
• Website: https://www.siennabrowneart.com/

Sienna Browne is an undergraduate student at CSULB who is in the Drawing and Painting BFA Program. Besides being an artist, she has many hobbies and is quite active in other fields. She is a beach lifeguard, a middle school youth leader at Rock Harbor Church, and an Instructional Student Assistant for the art department at CSULB. When discussing what ideas she wanted to explore it involved encompassing all of her work she had experienced and the journey through the start and present of her career. She wanted to show her life experiences and her growth through all of her work up to this point. As a result, the exhibition will showcase all types of artwork from the beginning of her art career to the present.

A formal analysis of SUSHI ROLLS is that it is a large image. The painting has shape and colors to show the details of the sushi and the person’s head. Rhythm is present because the colors are dramatic enough to separate the objects from each other. Every object is scaled appropriately for the image statement. Texture is shown throughout the man’s face. The wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes are well defined. Other details demonstrated is that it is wavy and has abrupt changes in dynamic contrast. Muted pastel colors are present over vivid primary colors.

She presented to our class so that was a unique opportunity to really get to know the artist. In class, she explained that she made a decent amount of food related art pieces subconsciously but realized it was about her eating disorder. She wanted her work to symbolize the path she walked and she was fighting against. She uses her artistic practice as a way to work through obstacles in her life. She faced and re-experienced her tough times and was able to create something beautiful from it. She wanted her work to be attractive and disgusting to her viewers. Sienna was showing “letting go” as a statement from her works. It was an act of letting go of the past and investing in the future. Her work is intrinsically part of who she is. The pieces of art represent a visual history of where she has been and what she had to overcome.

I personally never dealt with an eating disorder but I sympathize with her idea of “letting go”. Things in the past can haunt you but I know I need to learn from my past in order to move forward and have a brighter future. Originally I picked this piece of work because I liked the image and it dealt with sushi. SUSHI ROLLS was created pre-college so she had no idea that the root of the painting was an eating disorder subconsciously. The painting interested me because she created it without the knowledge of the eating disorder. I’m just happy she realized her problems and learned to overcome them; that is some strength I wish to incorporate in my life.