Laguna College of Art + Design announced Eric Theodore received the 2024 Trustee Choice Award.
The Winner
LCAD Board of Trustees purchased his painting titled “Sensazione” to include in the college’s permanent collection. Theodore received his LCAD MFA in Painting in the May, 2024 Commencement ceremony under the guidance of Peter Zokosky, Chair of MFA Drawing and Painting.
Eric Theodore’s Statement
Sensazione
Oil on canvas
24” x 36”
2024
Sensazione features a solitary boy at rest. My goal is to present the male figure in a tender, sensual way that defies the perceived confines of modern masculinity. I paint the body with the care and nuance of Baroque artists, paying close attention to the way warm light glows on the skin and affects the overall sensation of the painting. I am influenced by artists like Caravaggio, Paul Cadmus, and Michelangelo, for their handling of light and shadow on form, and their sensitive approach to the male figure. Using oil on canvas, I explore the body as a poetic composition, charged with emotions that are universal yet deeply personal. I aim to create a painting that evokes visceral feelings of desire and reflects the duality of the body and mind.
Artist Bio
Eric Theodore has lived in various places around the country, from Tennessee to Michigan to Texas, while growing up. He received his Bachelor’s in 2015 from Centre College in Kentucky, where he honed his skills in representational drawing and painting under Sheldon Tapley and learned glassblowing under Stephen Powell. He was President of Centre’s Student Art Society and awarded the top art award in his year. He then worked as an art teacher for three years in Texas at Del Valle Middle School and A&M Consolidated High School. He moved to California in 2022 to pursue his Master of Fine Arts in Painting at Laguna College of Art + Design. He currently runs the Friday long-pose sessions at LCAD, where he is also a teaching assistant for undergraduate classes and the MFA Representative for LCAD’s Student Government Association.
Honorable Mentions
Aaron Baldwin (BFA Illustration 2024) and Chase Heindel (BFA Drawing + Painting) received honorable mentions for their pieces, “The Moon, The Sun, and The Stars,” and “Apricity,” respectively.
