Elihu Carranza
What makes the Carranza Family Gallery singularly engaging is the way in the personal lives of each artist crosses paths with their professions and close friends. Their willingness to let their experiences and professions intersect, and to reflect upon them with others, enriches the content of their art with much diversity and intensity: Elihu’s artwork is influenced by a variety of core theological and social topics. In all he brings to the viewer a fresh perspective into abstract forms where aesthetics unfolds in terms of symbols, invented visual allegories, and poetry. He claims, “Art is the search for reality’s end-points and where it meets the Truth.”
Elihu Carranza was born in San Jose, California. He attended schools in San Jose and throughout the United States, eventually enlisting in the United States Marine Corps. He served as a Marine in the Viet Nam War; leaving the military with an honorable discharge, he attended San Jose State University’s Tutorial Program, a two-year undergraduate program for gifted students. During this time, he continued to develop his interest in art and was admitted to Stanford University’s artist program graduating from Stanford University with honorable distinction. He pursued graduate work at Columbia University of New York City from where he obtained a Master of Fine Arts in painting and sculpture in 1978. His success in art inspired him to extend his graduate study into the field of theology and postgraduate research in art and apologetics. He received a master’s degree from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
An extensive personal production in art reflects numerous phases in Carranza’s modus operandi. Among his early and notable contributions, were a series of sketches that he undertook for the book Pensamientos on Los Chicanos . In a second volume his illustrations capture the mood and style of the turbulent times of the Mexican American movement in California. Other graphic art works of illustrated biblical passages portrays a personal struggle of unique intensity. Since 1988, he has rarely exhibited his drawings, collages, paintings, sculptures and photographs. Collections of his art are among family and friends. Carranza’s profession as a woodcarver and teacher continues providing people with alternative applications of his craftsmanship and creativity.Please see the gallery for his artwork.
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