2021 COLBY CREATIVES SHOWCASE
ARTWORK
The Full Repertoire
SYDNEY TOBIA
Based in New York city, Sydney “Squid” Tobia is a freelance photographer and an undergraduate student at Colby College. As a teen, Sydney was introduced to black-and-white darkroom photography at her high school and soon began taking color darkroom classes at the International Center of Photography. In her senior year of highschool, she was accepted to the selective imagemakers program at the ICP. Tobia has been awarded a silver key for her piece, “Juno,” and two honorable mentions for her works, “Gemini” and “Sunday Blues,” through the scholastic art and writing awards. Her art explores youth culture, identity, love and pain through portraiture. Her work draws a lot of inspiration from directors (specifically Harmony Korine and Ari Aster) and other photographers (specifically Nan Goldin and Ed Templeton).
ARI TRUEBA
Ari Trueba is a 20-year-old undergraduate Colby student from Las Vegas, Nevada. Because of their love for visual art expression, Ari became an art tutor for kids, teaching them the basic techniques of different mediums and helping their students find their own creative expressions. In high school, Ari submitted work for the Carmel Art Association and won best in show in 2018. Ari’s work explores how art intersects with neuroscience and nature. Inspired by growing up in the Mojave desert and their love for biological systems, their sketch work highlights structural components and the interconnectedness between the body’s biomechanical functions and nature.
JOSEPH BUI
Joseph Bui is a portrait photographer from Houston, TX. Through portraiture, Joseph is interested in relationships between people and/or subjects exploring strengths and vulnerabilities. Joseph’s choice in lighting, color, and expressive gestures presented in his photography evoke compassion, empathy, and tenderness. With an interest in fashion and editorial photography, Joseph aims to work with editorial magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair in the future. Currently attending Colby College, Joseph will be receiving his B.A in Studio Art: Photography and exhibiting his latest work in the Colby Museum of Art in May 2022. After Colby, Joseph will continue for his MFA in Photography, where he will explore fine-art and fashion photography.
SAM ONCHE
Sam Onche is a Nigerian illustrator and oil painter based in the United states. “My art journey has taken different forms since when I first started." He currently uses portraits to tell different stories and spark different conversations from his viewers. He is inspired by surreal, contemporary, and modern artists, as well as fashion, music and culture. “Afro futurism is a topic I have been exploring and I try to show in my art. I enjoy combining motifs, objects and colors in surprising ways for my afro futuristic work. I consider my art style very unique and I have been told on several occasions my brush work and palette choice ties into the work I make”. Currently, he has a series of five afro inspired oil paintings on display in TOPO gallery in Maine. “I have also been blessed with the opportunity to work with organizations like Color of Change and Netflix, and worked on several music and book covers for music artists and book writers”.
RIC YAMAMOTO
Ric Yamamoto is a multimedia artist based in Tokyo, Japan. His work has taken him from a childhood hobby to his current state, where his interests have taken him in many different directions. He is studying Art and Philosophy at Colby College and is also a member of the squash team squash program. Ric's current artistic interests are based on the nuances of Japanese culture, incorporating Western philosophy and the context of Western contemporary art into his work. The roots of his art are closely associated with his parents. Strongly influenced by his mother, a preacher of Japanese art, he was introduced to drawing, origami and Japanese dance at an early age. His father introduced him to the art of Japanese tea ceremony, cultivating in him the ability to realize form and spatial awareness through Zen and Eastern philosophy. The forms of his work range from fine art to NFT, contemporary art and commercial projects. He mobilizes different mediums such as photography, video, drawing, painting, oil painting, sculpture and collage in order to maintain the sensory and theoretical authenticity of his work. This allows him to create work that is both symbolically pure and flexible in form.
