T.O. artist's first solo show begins Nov. 14

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Oct. 28, 2015) A local artist will present a series of oil paintings inspired by a famous work by Francisco Goya from Nov. 14 through Jan. 2 at California Lutheran University.

A reception for “What If: Life In A Handful Or Less” by Cal Lutheran alumnus Harold Muliadi will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, in the Kwan Fong Gallery of Art and Culture on the Thousand Oaks campus.

The exhibit is a meditation on Goya’s 19th-century masterpiece “The Colossus,” which features a giant lumbering through the countryside, sending Lilliputians and livestock running for their lives. Peering past the themes of terror and anxiety, Muliadi saw potential in the concept of an explorer entering a world built at a radically different scale.

For the Thousand Oaks native, this idea recalled using his childhood imagination to “pick up” people in the distance with his fingers or watch a trail of ants from a hand's breadth away and picture an adventure at their tiny size. A lump of soil on the ground looks inanimate while standing above it, but when picked up and scrutinized, it can be alive with miniscule movement. “What If” depicts giants finding our world to be full of life alongside the escapades of Lilliputian-scale wayfarers.

Creating imaginary scenes with a high degree of believability has been Muliadi’s practice since early childhood, when he and his family would make up bedtime stories that put friends and acquaintances in absurd predicaments.

Muliadi graduated from Moorpark College in 2012 with an associate degree in anthropology and transferred to Cal Lutheran. He graduated as valedictorian with a bachelor’s degree in art in 2014.

As a painter, he uses primarily a Flemish method–influenced technique. He also works with graphite and charcoal drawing as well as digital painting in Photoshop. This is the first solo show for Muliadi, who works in his family’s education and arts business, EarthAire Squared.

The Cal Lutheran Art Department is sponsoring the free exhibit and reception.

The Kwan Fong Gallery is located inside the Soiland Humanities Center at 120 Memorial Parkway. It is open to the public 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Visitor parking is available in the parking lot on Mountclef Boulevard south of Olsen Road.

For more information, contact curator Michael Pearce at 805-444-7716 or visit CalLutheran.edu.