Staff Member

CSU Bakersfield holds ‘Visiting Artist Series’ every other Tuesday in the new visual arts building.

As part of the visiting artist series, Sanchiko Miki introduced the nude artist she is making for campus.

On Tuesday, April 19, artist Sachiko Miki gave a presentation on what has inspired her art in her career as a sculptor.

Miki’s presentation focused on four main points: the theme of her artwork, the influence of her artwork, the process and her training.

“Things that I can not control are important to me,” said Miki. “I use tears as the theme of my artwork. I cry when I’m happy or sad.”

Miki explained that she cried often as a child, and now enjoys creating sculptures and paintings that reflect emotion.

She also likes to have some fun in her sculpting and use materials that mean something; she enjoys using plastic pieces in some of her pieces because it reflects the fake in the world.

She explained that her favorite artist influenced her to always be honest and to see her artwork as a tool for her thoughts.

Her sculpture-making process always begins with a painting, and before starting the sculpture she determines the size of her artwork.

About 30 students attended this week’s ‘Visiting Artist Series.’ Miki was only the second artist to present this quarter. There will be two more artists visiting the campus.

Some students expressed that out of the two they have attended this has been their favorite artist.

“I liked the insight of her personal work, admitting to all of us that she cries a lot and learning where her inspiration comes from was cool to learn,” said student Mayte Mendez, art major.

Miki is in the process of creating a sculpture for the CSUB campus. Her sculpture is described as a nude man standing on water as water comes out of his penis.

The piece symbolizes that humans are products of nature.

“The piece is supposed to reflect that we are mostly made out of water,” said student Isabel Gonzalez, a Child Adolescent and Family Studies major.

At first, the sculpture Miki was making was supposed to be anime-inspired, but she decided to go a different direction because she wants everyone to relate to her nature-inspired piece.

She ultimately hopes her piece fulfills its one goal at the campus.

“My piece symbolizes happiness, and I hope my sculpture brings joy to the campus and that anyone who sees it smiles and laughs,” said Miki.

Miki is still working on her sculpture, and it will be ready for display in 4 weeks.