Graduation Spotlight Series: Emiko Groder’s ’25 Sculpture Part of Statewide Exhibition

When Emiko Groder receives her B.A. in art this June, she will already have work on exhibit at the Brea Gallery. The juried Made in California features artists from across the state at various career stages. Groder’s piece, I Love You, I'm Glad I Exist (2024), reflects her interests in family and literature.

Growing up in a family of artists and craftsmen, Groder arrived at UCI ready to experiment. Never having created 3D art before, she took several sculpture courses with Jennifer Pastor, professor of art – and now, it’s her preferred medium. One of her favorite works, featured in her first juried show in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, is The Bag, a giant plastic shopping bag made of stitched-together smaller bags

“The art program is so open ended, there’s a lot of freedom,” said Groder. Her advice to incoming students is “Take at least one studio class that you’re kind of interested in – even if you’re not great at it. It’s good to see and discuss other aspects of art in this space, and it helps you become more critical.”

I Love You, I’m Glad I Exist was inspired by one of Groder’s favorite Wendy Cope poems.  “It’s about doing a task for someone you care about, and sharing the fruits of your labor,” said Groder.

Image: I Love You, I'm Glad I Exist, (2024), by Emiko Groder shown at the Brea Gallery in Brea, CA, April 26-June 29, 2025.

Meant to be interactive, each segment of the fruit is a soft pillow, with snaps that can be opened to evoke the sound of peeling an orange. Fittingly, Groder’s mom helped her sew the large fleece and yarn pieces. When her classmates first saw the work, they sat in a circle hugging the giant citrus slices – proving the art provided both visual and tactile comfort.

Groder embraced an array of opportunities at UC Irvine. She served as a lab assistant in the sculpture studio, an assistant to an M.F.A. student sculptor, a teaching artist intern in the Creative Connections summer program, and a fabricating assistant to a professional artist.

Her undergraduate honors thesis exhibit, Well I don’t think we have any alternative other than remaining optimistic, runs June 5-14 at the University Art Gallery, featuring Groder’s self-directed work over the course of the year, under the mentorship of art professor Amanda Ross-Ho.

“My thesis goes into family, generational storytelling, knowledge, history and the kind of reconstruction of stories that I'm really interested in,” Groder said. “I’m proud of this and all of my work — a lot of which I never thought I'd be able to do.”

Groder says UCI has made her “a smart artist,” with the technical skills, critical thinking and self-discipline to apply for residencies and M.F.A. programs while, most importantly, continuing to make art.

Image: Emiko Groder outside of the Department of Art sculpture studio. Photo by Diana Kalaji.