Gallery • 8 Photos

Artist, Megan March, standing for a photo during her art exhibit opening night at Eddie Rhodes Gallery in Contra Costa College, San Pablo, CA, on Friday, February 16, 2024. (Courtesy of Megan March)

Contra Costa College student, Megan March, a mother, queer artist, and independent musician, opened a thought-provoking exhibit at the college on Feb.16, showcasing artwork and sculptures from her series “Mother of Pearl” and “Spectral Echoes”

According to March, the “Mother of Pearl” series focuses on and questions the value of the body, the outside versus the inside, and the type of value that our society, as well as we as individual people, place on that. 

“Spectral Echoes” is inspired by March’s life experiences of losing people that she cared for, and the process of reaching across the veil, as well as different boundaries of communication. 

However, March didn’t decide to become a professional artist until later in life. When she was younger, she would hang out with her grandmother, also an artist, “She would set me up with a bunch of scrap paper, crayons, and pencils, and I would just go at it for hours, days, weeks, and it was my world. She was very instructive in creating that type of escape.” March has said that she got a lot of support from her grandmother, especially in pursuing art. 

In school, art was something that she always gravitated towards, and was going to study art formally at Mills College when she studied there in the early 2000s, but composer and visiting professor Fred Frith convinced her to switch majors. March says that at the time, it was the right choice for her as she was more attuned to the music department. She was eventually awarded the “Maurthea Friedburger Cup of Mills College” upon graduation, which is awarded to the most distinguished senior in the Music Department. 

Once COVID-19 hit, things began to change. She had a son, and during this time started rethinking her life. March eventually decided to pursue art formally and professionally and made the career switch by studying at Contra Costa College, where she joined a beginner’s ceramics class and made the piece “Blooming”, which was also on display during the art exhibit. 

The piece features a snake nestled within a rock that’s surrounded by flowers, and the snake’s head emerges from the center of one of these flowers. The idea came to her in a dream right around when she had her son and making a transition in her life. 

Some of her other pieces include the piece that she’s most connected to – “The Three Sisters”. Made up of three large oysters hanging from the ceiling from 15-foot chains, made from ceramic, and includes a colorful stripe of geometric patterns on the inside of the shell. These oysters came together specifically for the show, and represent value coming from the inside. 

Her opening show which took place at the Eddie Rhodes Galley in CCC, lasted from 6-9 p.m. Many people attended and were met with music coming from inside of her sculptural work. March put speakers inside the conch shells, as well as the tube coral and sea anemone sculptures. The audio coming from these speakers was the music she composed with her band, which incorporated elements of planetary oscillations and the sounds of comets. This was done to have the viewer be able to experience the shape of the sculptures through auditory sensations, asking the question of how the clay body changes sound. 

Megan March looks forward to making more art and having more shows and says that those who want a creative or artistic career, to put in the work. “You just do the work, and every day you show up for yourself, and show up at other people’s celebrations.” March herself says that even if she doesn’t have a specific goal in mind, she still just sits down and gets to work. As the saying goes, just do it.

For those who are interested in seeing the art pieces, the exhibit will remain up until the middle of March at the Eddie Rhodes Gallery in CCC.