Cut a guitar in half, carve out its body, strip it of its bridge pins, pluck away all of its strings—and it still makes noise.
A medley of modified Yamaha guitars turned art pieces exemplifies this at Flatline Gallery’s latest exhibition “Axe of Art,” whose art sale proceeds will go to Jordan High School’s music program.
Rows of mostly acoustic upcycled guitars line the walls of the gallery—except for the occasional guitar suspended from the ceiling and a completely reconfigured bass turned gothic futuristic leather mask.
Curated by the gallery’s director Elizabeth Munzon, the exhibition features local artists, Jordan students, faculty and alumni.
For Long Beach artist Karina Vazquez, this exhibition is personal.
“I’m connected to this because I went to Jordan,” Vazquez said. “I’m really glad to give back and hopefully the students now are getting more opportunities, support and programs.”
Vazquez’s acoustic guitar dons its original color, the portrait of a woman with eyes closed adorns the bottom part of the body. Above her royal blue hair is the branch of a lemon tree extending its arm down the length of the guitar, its green leaves and yellow lemons bleed paint.
The artist titled the piece “When there’s Lemons…,” a nod to the unusable guitars that were donated by Yamaha for the exhibition.
“These guitars would have gone into a landfill if not donated,” Munzon said.
Yamaha created the Yamaha Cares Upcycle Program, which donates guitars to nonprofits to be turned into a different form of art. The one thing the music corporation asks is that the guitars benefit a music program, Muzon said.
The gallery’s director chose Jordan, which sits less than a mile away from Flatline Gallery—both in North Long Beach—to give back to her community.
“They’re right up the street for me, within my community,” Munzon said. “I really wanted to work with them.”
The woman in the portrait clutches her manicured hands over her chest, the expression in her face is one of calm and relief. The stars and the moon envelop her frame.
Members of the local artistic community also wanted to give back— enter Jackie Hernandez, a 21-year-old multi-medium artist whose art piece explores her own renewal.
A sky blue gradient descending into powder blue adorns the entire body of the guitar, covering the neck and frets. Hernandez’s piece is a colorful self-portrait, part of a bigger illustration, where the artist tries to reconnect with herself.
“That piece really signified the difficult time in my life where I felt like I didn’t know who I was, I didn’t recognize myself,” Hernandez said. “I made that piece as a way to show myself that I would be reunited with myself, I just needed to be patient and understanding of what I was going through.”
Expression through art is something Hernandez deems important and was a motivating factor for contributing to the show.
“It really sucks that a lot of times art is the one that doesn’t get funding,” Hernandez said.
Hailing from a low-income background, Hernandez didn’t have access to any of the art classes she craved. She doesn’t want that to be the case for today’s high school students.
“For me, this is something that is giving back to the community, which is really important for me with my artwork. If I [can] make something that I enjoy making and give back to benefit other people, I’m all in,” Hernandez said.
Axe of Art is showing at the Flatline until Sunday, Aug. 8.
Flatline Gallery is located at 6023 Atlantic Ave. Appointments are required for visits on Wednesday through Friday. Make an appointment here. No appointments are required for Saturday and Sunday visits.
