Sound.Art.Media. was founded in 2009 by Erika Chan, who started with the casual idea of collaborating art exhibitions with her close friends. This escalated into an operation, headed by a team of talented artists, musicians, writers, directors, designers, technicians, photographers, marketing and production specialists that followed the lead and offered their passion and expertise in the industry. They began gathering artists, writers and musicians from all over Southern California and even overseas in countries across the world.
Many of Sound.Art.Media.’s participants are actively involved with conservational and charity efforts, reaching out from their local communities to help change the world. Together, they bridge the gap between young, growing artists and working professionals, while bringing networking opportunities and new inspiration to all.
I received my BFA in Illustration and Entertainment Art from Cal State Fullerton, following the foundational teachings of the old masters and the gesture of traditional animation. Inspired by animals, fiction and my childhood, it is reflected in my paintings, creature designs, tattoo flash, sculpting, and special effects makeup. I have worked in many industries, from Disneyland, custom modular furniture and the Greater Los Angeles Zoo, to visual effects workshops, music video sets, and non-profit organizations. I love skeletons of all sorts, action figures, enjoying food, wildlife conservation, and traveling.
In 2007, I started commissioning watercolor animal portraits, establishing a line of ©Mad Maki Works sushi graphic tees, and met some very well respected figures in the creature business. My friend Lindsey toured me through my first creature shop, Weta Workshop, in beautiful New Zealand, which made me want to make creatures even more! I returned to LA and began assisting Steve Wang, Alec Gillis, and then contracting for Quantum FX and freelancing for Proteus FX. I am also a contributing writer for Indie Talent Magazine.
I had the opportunities to exhibit with Michael Goddard, the Irvine Fine Art Center, and Project Ethos. I believe in the important role that art and nature play in youth development. Being involved with non-profits like Wyland’s Clean Water Challenge, Robert Bateman’s Get-to-Know program, Shaun Livingston Foundation, and the Salvation Army makes it so satisfying to watch kids grow and allows me to offer them those learning opportunities.
I love discovering new talent, bringing people together and sharing great things with the world! My mission is that Sound.Art.Media. will continue producing live art, music and literature events and bring forth bigger messages. I have had many influential teachers and hope to motivate and inspire young minds just as I have been inspired in life.
Coming soon.
Coming soon.
After graduating from Cal State Fullerton I began working at Disneyland as a portrait artist. After a few freelance jobs I realized I wasn't satisfied and wanted to go back to school to become a fashion designer. I am now working as an Assistant Designer. On any given day I could be working on developing hardware, creating graphics, designing clothes, dealing with pending orders, sourcing new fabrics; each day holds it's own adventures. I plan to move to Australia next year with my boyfriend. We plan on living there for at least a year. We are fascinated by Australia and all it has to offer, the main thing being, the Great Barrier Reef. Since we are both divers we have a strong desire to see the reef before it's too late...
I've been involved with the Arts for 10 years, whether through exhibiting in galleries, working with clients painting portraits and murals, or by teaching. Past work experience also includes working for Disneyland creating portraits and caricatures, freelancing for various clients, including the graphic design company 30/60 and currently creating art for Trader Joe’s. For the future, I hope to grow my business in working with clients to create faux murals, and I plan on developing a cohesive body of pastel and oil paintings that can be exhibited in a one-woman show. I also plan on hiking mount Whitney, backpacking for several days in Yellowstone, swing dancing for the Orange County Dance-a-thon to raise money for cancer research, and to start volunteering art lessons at the orange county children’s hospital. Presently my greatest focus is Art Director for Sound-Art-Media. I’m thrilled to be on such a strong team of artistically focused people helping up and coming artists get the exposure they need.
AJ Graphics was established in 2005 and specialized in creative automotive and motorsports design and consultation. Within the past five years we have expanded to cater to a vast range of business owners and have served over 100 companies and individuals with creative direction, custom advertising and website development. We pride ourselves in going above and beyond. One of our strongest design points lies within our formal traditional art education. Implementing fine art techniques into the digital advertising medium produces results unlike the majority of our competition. Aaron and Sarah are both excited and proud to be a part of such a wonderful endeavor as Sound.Art.Media! As the publishers of Indie Talent magazine we have an enormous sense of pride in art and those who strive to get art out to the public.
Hey! My name is Kelsey and I'll be your Music Director this year. I was born in the LA area, but have lived everywhere in southern CA from the Inland Empire to OC to San Diego, where I currently work at the American Language Institute at San Diego State University. I started booking weekly shows with Associated Students Productions at Cal State Fullerton in 2003 until 2006. Intermingled in these years I participated in internships with Maverick/Warner Bros Records and Smartpunk.com doing marketing. After college I worked at NBC for in photo archives, until coming to SDSU. I love graphic design, music, the beach, and traveling, and am a firm believer you should never pay more than $20 for a show unless you're sitting on the drum set.
My fascination with all things creative started at a young age. As a kid I danced, loved drawing, singing, music and film - basically anything I could do besides normal homework. As I grew the interest stuck, I continued to dance all through high school, was actively creating art, and participated in numerous play productions at school. Enrolling in my first video production class at sixteen, I decided that film was something that encompassed a lot of my passions and decided to pursue it into college.
Attending Cal State Fullerton, I have fond memories of hanging out at the dorms, taking crazy film courses, and working odd jobs. I was a Resident Advisor for two years, interned for The Insider in LA, and was the only girl sound technician for the campus’ weekly concerts. I graduated in 2007 with my bachelors in Radio, Television, and Film. Quickly after finishing school I got a job at a news station back near my hometown in San Diego. Now I work in action sports production for ShredOrDie.com, a great website backed by Tony Hawk and 900 Films, his production company.
In my spare time, I love to write, take weird pictures, and go see live music. I'm currently working on an untitled documentary about a school shooting which occurred over thirty years ago, and I hope to have a finished project by the end of this year. I would like to eventually pursue a Masters in Social Documentation or Creative Writing.
I am both honored and excited to be a part of “Dreams and Nightmares 2010,” which is a topic I have always found very interesting since strange and unusual dreams have been a major part of my own life. I can’t wait to put my technical skills that I've collected over the past years to work.
Striving to incorporate all types of art into my teaching, I have earned my Associate of Arts and Science degrees from Pasadena City College, and my Bachelor of Arts degree and Elementary Education Credential from California State University Los Angeles. Through my interaction with students as a substitute teacher and teacher’s assistant both in California and Washington, I have played an active role in district and school wide art programs, while modeling that art can be found in everything we do. Pointillism, watercolor, animation cell drawing and modern cross stitch are some of my personal interests. I am very excited to be a part of Sound.Art.Media and learning more about the hobby I love so much.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, I built my love and fascination for biology and other sciences from a very young age. As a prodigy of the inner-city school system, I went off to UCSB to earn my Bachelors of Science in Zoology. Residing and studying alongside the ocean, I was able to share my love for invertebrates and marine life with young children through informal education at the Marine Science Institute on my campus. I engaged the young and eager, through hands-on interactive touch tank presentations and tidepools. I currently work as an Education Specialist at the Los Angeles Zoo providing on-ground interpretations of exhibits, communicating conservation efforts to the public, facilitating play in our California Condor Rescue Zone, and assisting with animal themed classes for toddlers and pre-schoolers.
I hope to increase the level of understanding and appreciation for wildlife through interactive youth educational programs and tools, which I wish I had growing up in the inner-city. I have a four-year-old niece who loves to express her thoughts through art. Maybe one day, as a conservationist and informal teacher, I can help her and many others express and reflect their appreciation through their artwork. Although not an artist, being a member of Sound.Art.Media is an honor. Hopefully, one day as a group we can integrate conservation or even awareness of wildlife through art.
Coming soon.
As an English teacher, I always have to find ways to inspire students. One of the best ways to do so is through music. Be it an assignment where the students analyze the lyrics of their favorite song – to simply writing with music as their inspiration. My students have created CD’s, written songs, and danced along - all with the hopes of helping them see that writing can go beyond a simple letter or essay.
Personally, I have always found an escape through music, be it a sweet song playing in the background while I write – to heavy metal bursting through my ear buds as I snowboard down the slopes. Music has always been a way to lose myself, as I try to find my own inspirations. It is for this reason that I am so excited to be a part of Sound.Art.Media. My hope is to lend my writing and editing skills in order to help in a project that will help others find their inspirations as well.
Why, hello! I didn't see you there.
Please, come in and make yourself comfortable. Take off your clothes, if you'd like. You know, a wise woman in a tattered blue dress once sang to me from atop a Coachella stage, "I like you so much better when you're naked. I like ME so much better when you're naked." These simple words, so eloquently strung together like pearls, are the words I live by, my dear friend.
Now that you're cozy, allow me to introduce myself:
My name is Judy Chavez, a sweet and spicy lady born in East LA and raised in the Inland Empire. As a young fetus stewing in my mother's womb, I spent my primordial months making sculptures out of her gastrointestinal tract as the sweet sounds of Queen and The Beatles faintly reverberated beyond the fleshy cavern I found my tiny, gelatinous body encased in. Even at this tender young age, I knew I wanted to be involved in music and art. In elementary school, I made my musical debut playing "This Old Man" on the flute with keyboard accompaniment (I don't want to brag about "the flute years," but I broke many hearts with my soulful and breathy playing). In middle school, I entered that weird Drill Team phase most girls go through, an experience I can only sum up in three words: Asian Peer Pressure.
It wasn't until I became the emcee and media tech commissioner of my high school that I discovered the pleasures of organizing music and using my voice as an instrument. Smash cut to my alma mater, Cal State Fullerton (GO TITANS!) While receiving my BA in Radio, TV and Film, I was an all-around renaissance lady of extracurricular activities. My passion for music and the desire to work in the music industry lead me to booking on-campus entertainment for two years. I had a radio show for a year and a half, whereupon I took a sabbatical to study abroad in London. While there, I worked at Blow up Records with founder Paul Tunkin, and the Metro Night Club. I also smoked a European amount of cigarettes, which equates to living in a perpetual cloud of Co2. Upon returning to the States, I interned at Nickelodeon Animation Studios, where I realized spending 4 hours stuck in traffic to serve coffee and make copies just wasn't a good fit for me.
So, I threw myself into the front lines of substitute teaching to help pay my sexy bills, whereupon I discovered the life-fulfilling art of teaching special education. At the present moment, I'm living in Santa Barbara and attending UCSB, where I've snagged my teaching credential in special education and am currently working on my Masters. I'm not teaching yet, but I'd love to incorporate music into my teaching plans, so as to rock the adorable little booties of my future students. Did I mention my plan for world domination? I'll save that for another time.
Now, put your clothes back on and get outta here.
Hello everyone! My name is Renae and I am very excited to be a part of the Sound.Art.Media crew. I recently graduated from Occidental College with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology. I am currently working at the Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Garden where I get to combine my love for animals with my love for working with kids.
I have always had a love and appreciation for the different media of art from painting, to sculpture, photography, music and film. Growing up I was always the one responsible for taking pictures with the family camera and when I got my very own DSLR I was hooked. I take my camera with me everywhere because I never want to have to say, "I wish I had my camera right now!" I'm looking forward to seeing this event in all its glory!
Well a job was turning stale, I was burning out and nearly considering donning a tie and getting a real job--when I was lucky enough to find out about Erika's new wild idea. Working on the Sound.Art.Media. site was a great jumpstart--reminding me why I enjoy making them at all: the great feeling of helping shape something new and fun and worthwhile. Ya know? This endeavor has so much potential. Sharing art with the world is just the beginning, I can assure you (Erika has a 20,001 ideas jumping around in that head of hers). I hope our website can keep up, stay modern, and carry out the goals of Sound.Art.Media.
And in case that isn't enough of a bio: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Yep, that's design humor for ya...
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