September 05, 2008

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Art alumnus gives back to UTSA, donates to Luna auction

(Nov. 12, 2003)--Eight years ago, artist John Segovia became a student at UTSA almost by default.

An Air Force brat, Segovia was born in England in 1975, then split his formative years between South Dakota and Virginia, graduating from high school in Virginia. Despite an overseas birth and nomadic lifestyle, like his parents, he considers himself a Texan.

After Segovia graduated from high school, his father retired from the military and the family decided it was time to make the journey home. For Segovia, staying in Virginia for college would have meant paying out-of-state tuition, so he decided to follow his parents back to Texas.

Searching for a new Texas home, the family made its first stop in Kingsville where Segovia's brother was attending Texas A&M-Kingsville. Before long, his parents moved to San Antonio, and Segovia wasted little time in joining them.

He already knew he wanted to be an artist and the only art gallery in Kingsville was the one on campus -- overflowing with Southwestern art. "I didn't know much, but I knew that wasn't my taste," Segovia said.

As the family settled in San Antonio, he bypassed the more expensive, private institutions in favor of UTSA. "I think I definitely lucked out as far as many of the jewels that are here (at UTSA) on the art staff," Segovia said. "People I think about when I'm doing my work still,” added Segovia. "Ron Binks, who pretty much told me to drop my paint brush and just use my palette knife, worry more about building a drawing's physical presence than being linear and illustrative."

Segovia credits Constance Lowe with showing him the importance of his sketchbook, and speaks with obvious respect about Frances Colpitt. Another UTSA professor's teachings led him to find all his favorite artists. Professor Ken Little taught him the importance of understanding the space housing his work.

Most of his work is black and white, making the viewer more aware of the details surrounding the piece. "Something that might be very quiet on a large piece of wall, if it's crowded in there with a couple of other pieces, it would not have the same effect," explained the artist.

The artist Segovia has become today is a far cry from the artist who arrived on the UTSA 1604 Campus eight years ago. Some refer to him as a conceptual artist because ideas are central to his work. He has done photographs, paintings, drawings and sculptures, concentrating in sculpture and photography at UTSA.

Along the way, art that began with a strong classical influence transformed into something contemporary. Segovia claims it wasn't until he got to UTSA that he even knew of any contemporary artists.

"As you change throughout life, not to mention how you change as an artist from piece to piece to piece because you definitely discover things about yourself and about your work as you go along, there's just going to be a big difference given the span of time," Segovia said.

The artist's work has shown significant change. Segovia used to draw from photographs and follow the ideas of artistic perfection found in Roman and Greek figures. His recent work found its origin in science and math.

The artist is fascinated by time travel, spouting definitions of time and concepts linked to time and space. "One of the things about time travel is if you travel at light speed for three months out and return three months later, roundtrip, it would be around the year 3000," Segovia said. "I like ideas like that and generating a visual from it, I guess in somewhat of a poetic sense."

Segovia puts images of himself in his work and lately has been working on drawing images of hands guiding the lines in the pieces, like an online instructional guide where the hand shows where to click or turn.

In Segovia's work, a large part is the idea of the artist playing shaman, whittling down variables to determine the best way to present a certain message. His art, he said, is about a vision, although the vision in his head isn't always what translates onto canvas.

The art, like the artist, changes through time. "It may start off with something like a simple sketch on canvas, and then I add something to it, so okay, what would balance it out while still keeping my ideas," Segovia explained. "There's always an adrenaline rush at the end when it's like -- that's it -- that's what I'm trying to say."

Segovia doesn't expect everyone who views his art to come to the same conclusions. "Sometimes, it's not about what the artist puts down, it's about what other people read into it," Segovia said. "That's the whole point of putting it out there. You really shouldn't make art in a vacuum."

It is the artist's obsession with time travel that led to the piece he recently donated to the UTSA Gregory Luna Memorial Endowed Scholarship Art Auction, which is in its third year and raises scholarship money for students in financial need who want to attend UTSA. Preference to the scholarships is given to Lanier High School graduates and students graduating from schools in District 26.

The piece Segovia donated, "One Who Would Travel," is, according to the artist, about how we perceive ourselves moving through time. "It's a very stubborn one, our conception of time," said Segovia. "I like the idea of deconstructing how we perceive time. It's not just a line we travel through, rather it's more three dimensional."

Donating the piece to the auction was a simple decision for Segovia, who has felt strong support from the San Antonio art community and believes in giving something back. "When you see something important that you need to get involved with, then take part in it," Segovia said. "Especially if it helps someone else get to where they need to be."

The auction, open to the public, is from 6 to 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 15 at the Durango Building Southwest Room (1.124) at the UTSA Downtown Campus. Read more about the Luna auction.

--Leigh Anne Gullett