LCAD Student Averi Endow Draws in Viewers with her Arresting Paintings

A master of fine arts student at Laguna College of Art and Design, Averi Endow has her hands full: long hours painting seven days a week; commissions (she currently has three); two pieces recently displayed at the “Emerging Masters 2016” show at Laguna Art Museum; another exhibit coming in January; as well as the teaching and schoolwork that come with earning a degree. She has multiple strengths—precision, imagination, and formidable technical skill—and her honest take on childhood is commanding. There is none of the soft-focus vacuity of an ever-present smile and blissful unawareness of the future. Endow’s work lives in a gray area that offers children their full agency while still being conscious of life’s uncertainty. Recognizing their vulnerability and sometimes their fears, it amplifies the inner strength of these tiny future adults and celebrates their freedom. In “Stelae,” her young subject’s eyes are closed, confidence is written across that cherubic face, but Endow leaves it to the audience to decipher the painting’s narrative. “I’m not trying to tell you what to think,” she says. “I’m just giving you an experience.”