21 Feb ‘Reach Across the Veil’: Local Artist Explores Connection and Crosses Boundaries in CCC Art Show

Artist Megan March, right, chats with a friend and fellow creator about her raku-fired ceramic piece “We Are Volcanoes ll.” She says using the symmetry of wheel pottery, this piece builds upon itself like billowy Pahoehoe lava flows in layered transformation.

Story and photos by Joe Porrello

The self-titled “MEGAN MARCH” art installation premiered on Feb. 16 in San Pablo, exclusively featuring the work of one local artist.

Berkeley native and El Sobrante resident Megan March opened the doors to her first art show featuring ceramics, paintings and drawings in the Eddie Rhodes Art Gallery at Contra Costa College.

In her own words, March’s work takes inspiration from the underground vibrations of the Bay, drawing from gender politics and sexual identity as well as the ethereal nature of crossing boundaries beyond the living and expected.

 

Guests saw thematically linked work that is part of two installations largely making up the show: “Mother of Pearl” and “Spectral Echoes.” The former looks at topics of birth and the strain between the perception of a calm synthetic surface of classical form and the organic, magical landscape beneath, according to March, while the latter illustrates ways to connect with those who have passed on to realms beyond our waking life.

 

The show featured pieces from March that she had been preparing over a year for this very moment.

“It’s really exciting. I’ve been looking forward to it for a really long time,” she said. “It’s great to see it installed and also get to be in the room with other people experiencing it for themselves… I get to re-experience the art through their perspectives.”

 

Though it was March’s first show as a visual artist, she is well-seasoned in another kind of show. March and her husband, John Mink, have been performing punk rock all over the Bay Area and beyond since 2008 in their band, Street Eaters.

The two mediums go hand-in-hand, says March.

“Even as a musician, I was making art for my band,” she said. “I think the art aesthetic for music is also really important; it’s the whole encompassing experience.”

 

Minoring in studio art and majoring in music at what was then called Mills College in Oakland, March would go on to work as a sound engineer. When musical performances and recording sessions came to a halt in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, she shifted her focus back to visual art.

>>>Read: Art Helps Disabled Richmond Residents Through the Pandemic

“I had some time to really think about things, and it made me realize that this is something I really want to pursue… I had unfinished business,” March said. 

Having the opening ceremony come to fruition was no easy task.

“It was really hard,” said March. “I have a 4-year-old that was a 1-year-old when I made this decision.”

 

For other local artists aspiring to one day have their own shows and everyone with goals of any kind, March says it’s all within oneself to make it happen.

“When you decide you want to do something, you have to get over your imposter syndrome and just do it,” she said. “You have to cover all of your bases; don’t think someone’s going to do it for you.”

March says she will continue creating sculptures, painting and drawings. In the meantime, her installation in the Art Building at CCC will be open to the public during school hours for about one month.