Curtis Stage

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curtisstage

Artist, Educator, Media Arts Professional | Member of @durdenandray | Chair of Arts, Media, & Performance at LA Mission College

25 years in higher education. OVER 25 years in the 25 years in higher education. OVER 25 years in the Arts. And I’m more convinced than ever: Art is not optional. Education is not optional.

In a world that is fractured, uncertain, and rapidly changing, art offers us something essential — connection, empathy, vision, and reflection. It holds space for complexity, joy, protest, healing, and possibly transformation.

Education — especially arts education — doesn’t just prepare students for jobs. It prepares them to think critically, feel deeply, and contribute meaningfully to a culture that needs MORE imagination, not less.

As this school year comes to a close, I’m filled with gratitude for every student, every colleague, every moment of growth and struggle. The work isn’t easy, but it’s vital. And it seems like it’s never been more urgent than it is now.

Here’s to the next chapter. To making. To teaching. To believing in what art and education make possible. 

#ArtsEducation #HigherEd #CreativityMatters  #ArtIsEssential
New work: Lattice-01 & Lattice-02 Limited editi New work: 

Lattice-01 & Lattice-02

Limited edition signed 20x20in posters coming in July!
Who’s interested in a limited edition run of pos Who’s interested in a limited edition run of posters for these drawings? (Planning on creating them in July!)

#drawings #contemporaryart
Sunday in the studio with a classic Bill Evans Tri Sunday in the studio with a classic Bill Evans Trio LP “Sunday at the Village Vanguard”. I love the album so much… feels like you are sitting in that dark basement with them! #drawing #contemporaryart #wip #studioday
7 weeks/more hours than I cared to pay attention t 7 weeks/more hours than I cared to pay attention to and the newest drawing is done! 

In my graphite drawings and studio-based photographs, I explore how patterns, distortion, and material tensions shape perception. The black-and-white checkerboard, a symbol of structure and logic, recurs across both mediums but is pushed into states of flux, drawing on natural systems like Turing patterns, wave interference, and gravitational lensing. In photography, printed patterns are cut, collaged, and staged within reflective, sculptural environments, merging physical and optical phenomena into a single frame. Shimmering surfaces and bold forms introduce new dimensions of depth and texture, amplifying the distortions found in the drawings. Across both practices, I investigate how organized structure dissolves into sensation and ultimately, the work probes the complexity how we think through abstraction.
New drawing incoming! New drawing incoming!
#drawing #wip #drawing #wip
Instagram post 18119315683445458 Instagram post 18119315683445458
New Studio Photography:
Label: Not Made with Ai 🤣
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 “Sideways Formation Space” 2025 | shot with FujiFilm GFX50s - Long Beach, CA 
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#abstractphotography #surrealphotography #stilllifephotographyathome 
#contemporaryphotography  #collagephotography 
@durdenandray #durdenandray
New Studio Photography:
Label: Not Made with Ai 🤣
**********************
 “A Ghost is Born” 2025 | shot with FujiFilm GFX50s - Long Beach, CA 
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#abstractphotography #surrealphotography #stilllifephotographyathome 
#contemporaryphotography  #collagephotography 
@durdenandray #durdenandray
New Studio Photography:
Label: Not Made with Ai 🤣
**********************
 “This Happens All the Time” 2025 | shot with FujiFilm GFX50s - Long Beach, CA 
********************************
#abstractphotography #surrealphotography #stilllifephotographyathome 
#contemporaryphotography  #collagephotography 
@durdenandray #durdenandray
New Studio Photography:
Label: Not Made with Ai 🤣
**********************
 “To be Broken Down” 2025 | shot with FujiFilm GFX50s - Long Beach, CA 
********************************
#abstractphotography #surrealphotography #stilllifephotographyathome 
#contemporaryphotography  #collagephotography 
@durdenandray #durdenandray
Proud to have work with @durdenandray back in CDMX Proud to have work with @durdenandray back in CDMX for Art Week at @clavomovimiento
New work “Traveling Wave E” Companion Drawing, New work
“Traveling Wave E” Companion Drawing, graphite and ink on paper, 17x17in, 2025

This piece will be on view at @durdenandray next month for our #TIEZE exhibition.

#drawing #patterns #losangelesart #contemporaryart
New work “Traveling Wave F” Companion Drawing, New work
“Traveling Wave F” Companion Drawing, graphite and ink on paper, 17x17in, 2025
“Traveling Wave C” Companion Drawing 7” grap “Traveling Wave C”
Companion Drawing 7” graphite/ink on paper, 17x17” 2025

No Ai 

For the last few months I’ve been working a series of pattern drawings that are sort of companions to the photography.
#contemporaryart #opart #patternart #drawing✏ #contemporaryart #opart #patternart #drawing✏
“Traveling Wave B” Companion Drawing 6, graphi “Traveling Wave B”
Companion Drawing 6, graphite/ink on paper, 15”x15”, 2025

No Ai 

For the last few months I’ve been working a series of pattern drawings that are sort of companions to the photography.
New work. “Traveling Wave A” Companion Drawi New work. 

“Traveling Wave A”
Companion Drawing 5, graphite/ink on paper, 15”x15”, 2025

No Ai 

For the last few months I’ve been working a series of pattern drawings that are sort of companions to the photography.
Ready to show these new babies! Head over to Glend Ready to show these new babies! Head over to Glendale Friday night! Armenian Arts Center! Group show.
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