CSUSM senior Darius “Dare” Talley hosted his first art show titled Inner Demons from Dec. 1 to Dec. 3 in Arts 342 with interactive art activities, music and raffle prizes.

According to his website, darestudios.org, Talley’s love and fascination for art is rooted in creating stories from simple doodles in elementary school. Dare aspires to “provide great content that shares meaning, emotion and great substance,” according to his website.

The art exhibit consisted of five collections, respectively named, “Inner Demons”, “Urge,” “In the Crowd,” “Identity” and “Nature’s Messages.”

The “Inner Demons” collection was comprised of several works of art that convey personal hardships that many people and college students at like go through. Examples range from eating and sleeping disorders to substance abuse and procrastination.

Dare’s purpose in creating these works is to bring light to the idea that personal struggles are a means of connecting human beings to each other.

The “Urge” collection focused solely on Dare’s personal demon, who goes by the name of Urge. Recently, in order to live a more productive and lively lifestyle, Dare quit smoking weed. The ghoulishly-portrayed Urge is a manifestation of Dare’s subconscious desire to smoke. Ultimately, Dare has accepted that Urge is an irrefutable part of his life.

“In The Crowd” is a collection consisting of pieces that depict self-conflicts that many of us live with. Created with intricate details and profound meanings, Dare believed that the story and interpretation of these works be left to the viewer’s own interpretation.

The “Identity” works focused on a style of art that aimed to push viewers to question their identities. After viewing this collection, Dare requested that viewers ask themselves questions like, “Who do you wish to be?” or “How do you want to be seen?”

Concluding the exhibit, “Nature’s Messages” is a series of works that “brings language and nature together to convey concepts involving the ups and downs of life.”

Before exiting his exhibit, Talley provided insight as to why he began the project.

“Somebody actually taught me something about the art ‒ it was all about me changing focus throughout the years of college. I was trying to focus on being the party guy and being somebody everybody loved, which changed to this tone of just wanting to be comfortable and focusing on myself,” Talley said.

“Now what I’m working on is building myself up into a future of who I want to be and really focusing on the dreams I want to reach.”

This led to Dare consulting with his professors on the process of making his very own art gallery on campus.

Info about Dare and his future projects can be found at his previously mentioned website, darestudios.org