Steve Comba: ARBORETUM

ARBORETUM Comes to the Botanic Garden

The Claremont Museum of Art presents Steve Comba ARBORETUM in the gallery at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, 1500 N. College Ave., Claremont daily 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 26 through July 13. Garden admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students, $4 for children and free for CMA and RSABG members.

The Claremont Museum of Art exhibition features Steve Comba’s drawings, sketches, photographs and paintings that relate to and culminated in the eight-foot painting, Arboretum. In 2011, the artist devoted eight months to create the painting using photos, sketches and studies from 1984 to the present day. It is both an autobiographical journey through his own work in landscape as well as a treatise on the artificial nature of painting and the objective beauty of Nature.

“My journey as a painter ranged from abstracted minimalist explorations of the object as primary structure, with only those essential elements such as color and scale as the key communicator of meaning, to a decidedly Romantic impulse to tell “stories” through recognizable images. Though I’m still a strong advocate of the power and effectiveness of the theoretical and cerebral, I’m strongly drawn to the representational and visual. All along this journey, my guiding influence has been Nature, or more accurately, natural forms. I’m still interested in the “plastic” realm that is the made object (pigment, support, scale), yet I’m compelled toward reflecting the source: the light, shape, and timelessness of landscape and the innate, uniquely human, desire to read meaning and narratives into pictures.”

The Artist

Steve Comba is a Claremont-based artist and museum professional. He received his MFA from Claremont Graduate University and his paintings and drawings have been shown in exhibitions throughout the southland. In addition to being a practicing studio artist, he has also worked in the museum field for the past 28 years on numerous projects in the greater Los Angeles area. As the Associate Director/Registrar at the Pomona College Museum of Art, he recently designed and opened the Native American Collection Study Center. He was founding Vice President of the Claremont Museum of Art and curated five of that museum’s inaugural exhibitions. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Western Museums Association.

Related Link:

Pomona College Museum of Art Assistant Director Steve Comba Showcases Arboretum with Claremont Museum of Art (The Student Life, newspaper of the Claremont Colleges Associated Students)