American River College student artists Max Marchol and Brad Carps are currently showcasing their artwork in the library stairwell.

“My sense of humor is pretty absurd,” Carps said of his artwork. “I come from an area that is really blunt but crude.”

Brad said that “communicating one’s story” is an important element that inspired his artwork.

“I found that telling people my experience doesn’t work, but drawing a picture does,” Brad said.

Carps’ self-described “art therapy” piece “Erasure: Friendship,” represents an alcoholic, complicated friendship that he has.

The words written on the drawing represent what his friend told him about how “self destructive and suicidal he was getting,” explained Brad.

One particular sentence written across the piece reads, “I’m feeling very suicidal at the moment….I’d be dead by now if it wasn’t for your near, constant comforting presence in my life.”

“That’s probably one of my favorite pieces, even though in one sense it’s ugly,” Carps said of the art.

In another piece called “Attention Deficit Disorder,” Carps intended to communicate how attention deficit disorder impacts him.

“It takes a chunk out of me,” Brad explained “which is really an understatement of what it does.”

Brad Carps expressed his terrifying experience in creating the string-on-a-board art piece called “If You Can’t See It You Can’t Draw It.”

“Throughout the entirety of the string art, when I was pounding every single of those nails by hand, I was absolutely terrified,” he recalled.

Brad explained the reason for that is “the two conflicting emotions” he gets when he works with mixed media.

“I get a lot of enjoyment from it, but halfway through the piece I get terrified that the piece won’t turn out.”

ARC student Kelse DePaulo-Willse was impressed by the “realistic but animated” look of Brad Carps facial expression portrait called “What Do You Mean The Semester is Almost Over

Marchol explained that his art focuses more on “texture and perspective”.

“A drawing, painting, photograph, sculpture, or any piece of art is a way of seeing through another person’s eyes,” Marchol went on to say.

“If I can broaden someone’s perspective in some small way, then that’s a good thing,” said Max.

Max Marchol expressed his enjoyment in the creation of the three art pieces on the wood panels.

“It’s pretty cool to take simple boards that have been discarded by the art department, and turn them into art,” Max explained.

Max shared that the purpose in his self portrait was to “study the proportion of the face and identify areas where the bone structure of the face are most evident.”

His piece “Disgust” identified the muscles used “when a person is expressing disgust.”

“I exaggerated his expression so he looks more like he is physically repulsed by something,” Marchol said.

Max Marchol is a studio art major and plans to make a sustainable living on this path as he continues creating art.

“The process of making art is meditative. I feel that I am learning new things with each piece, not just about how to create art, but how to view the world,” Max said.

Max Marchol has had his art displayed in various locations around campus. The Kaneko, the Shadowbox Gallery and the library have all featured Marchol’s work.

Carp and Marchol are selling many of their art pieces. To buy or see more of their artwork, contact the Kaneko Gallery by the Fine Arts Building at American River College.