Faculty

Professor - School of Arts and Sciences, Fine Arts

Education

• BA: 2002, Concordia University Irvine, Art: Secondary Education
• MFA: 2007, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Drawing & Textiles

Biography

Rachel Hayes is a graduate of Concordia University, Irvine, where she earned a B.A. in art and secondary education. After graduation, she taught K - 8th art at the Crystal Cathedral Academy; junior high art at St. Paul's Lutheran School in Des Peres, MO; various college-level courses at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, IL; and high school art at Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine,CA. She has also taught art in various non-profit settings in Orange County.

Rachel Hayes received her Master's of Fine Arts degree in 2007, specializing in drawing and textiles, from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She enjoys all types of art, but especially loves drawing, mixed media and textiles.

Research: My work addresses the space of personal memory where fact and fantastical myth merge, and where memories may emerge within both the intimate and immense nature of drawings.

Thomas Moore describes in his book, Rituals of the Imagination: "A mythic autobiography would tell of the inner geography, the animals, the gods, and the unnatural events that come to the surface of life. We get at this myth, not by telling the story of a life, but by telling its stories, over and over again, with all their many versions and contradictions."

I seek to tell the memories, the fantastic elements and the contradictions that are present in everyone's memories of childhood.

My work collects patterns, images, colors and lines from my memories, explorations, and day-to-day activities. It tells stories of childhood, motherhood and being.

Teaching

• Painting I & II
• Elements of Art
• Experiences of Art
• Design
• Children's Art

Assistant Professor of Art

Education

• Art Institute of Southern California, Laguna Beach, CA, B.F.A., 1995;
• Cal State Fullerton, M.F.A., 2002

Professional Experience

• Laguna College of Art and Design, Laguna Beach, CA, 1998 - 2004
• Cal State Fullerton, 2001-2002
• Irvine Valley College, Irvine, CA, 2003 - 2007.
• Resident Professor of Art, Concordia University, Irvine, CA, 2003-2007
• Assistant Professor of Art, Concordia University, Irvine, CA, 2007- present

Biography

Born and raised in Sweden I was early learning about different art forms from my mother who is an artist. I subsequently went on to study art in Austria, Germany and France. The fundamental approach to art is, at its core, learning to see differently, and by extension, to think differently. The process is about technique, but the goal – the outcome – is to develop a different way of experiencing the world, and of evaluating that which we experience. In that sense it is not unlike learning to speak a foreign language. It gives us a different way of formulating thought, formulating knowledge. As a European who has lived and worked in many different countries with different languages and cultures, I have learned that knowledge, and therefore understanding, can be framed in many different ways. By using painting and drawing as a means to express myself I use a language that often proves to be powerful. My paintings depict traces of reactions, feelings, and other signs of what takes place emotionally between people. I aim to manifest a certain degree of tension. As I consciously develop visual commentaries on the canvas, I try to cover universal themes such as love, distress, separation, pain, joy, isolation, complacency… all feelings that are part of our human existence.

Co-Chair, Associate Professor of Graphic Design

Education

• B.F.A. in Commercial Art at Concordia University, Seward, Nebraska, 2001
• M.F.A. in Integrated Visual Art, at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 2004

Biography

Soo is an associate professor of graphic design and co-chair of the Art Department. She teaches digital image manipulation, digital illustration, typography, and graphic design classes. Utilizing both traditional and digital media, Soo creates artwork which investigates issues of identity and culture. A variety of media are used for self-discovery by examining memories, perceptions and personal relationships.

Teaching

• Digital Publishing
• Digital Image Manipulation
• Digital Illustration
• Graphic Design 1
• Graphic Design 2
• Graphic Design 3
• Typography 1
• Typography 2