Art Majors 2010 - 2011
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2013 Hometown: Normal, IL My concentration in the school of art is painting, focusing on the use of acrylic. I have also been pursuing an interest in printmaking, but have yet to decide if a double concentration would be manageable. Although my sources of inspiration are widely varied, transformation can generally be seen as the central theme that I am concerned with. My current body of work is focused, fittingly, on the human body. Specifically, my interest is ways in which the figure can be joined harmoniously with seemingly disparate imagery. For me, the torso has always seemed to be a natural point of departure for the rest of the figure. By including a generally recognizable torso, one is able to transform the extremities in such a way that is ambiguous as to whether a human is being transformed into or from another object. Generally, I choose to place the figure in the center of the canvas surrounded by little, if any, background imagery. In doing this, I hope to direct the entirety of a viewer's attention on the subject at hand. In most cases, the subject is a careful consideration of how human anatomy can be incorporated seamlessly with nonhuman structure. My current interest in botany, for example, has proven to lend itself extremely well to the natural curves and creases of the human body. Through such pieces, I hope to call into question the separation and dominance that humans feel the need to hold over the rest of the natural world. Top of Page |
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2011 Hometown: Northbrook, IL It was a huge jump for me when I changed my major from biology pre-medicine to graphic design in the middle of my sophomore year at IWU, but it was the right decision to make. Because of the graphic design courses I have taken, I look at everything in this world through highly critical eyes. I go around looking at book covers, posters, movie credits, packaging, signs, etc. and decide for myself if they show good or bad design. I can never look at anything normally again! As cheesy as it sounds, my design vision is always on, whether I detect it or not. It is a curse and a great blessing to be able to see these things. I thank all of my art professors for sharpening my perspective! Most of the design work I have produced has a clean and simple composition. I love fitting together text to form beautiful type units! Occasionally I have used hand drawn elements, such as in my Berlin Stiletto Run poster. It was difficult to capture the exact mood I was looking for in the font and illustration, but the end product was worth the long process. I have also enjoyed designing books on various topics: unaccompanied children, sounds, and uses of a clothespin. I hope to continue exploring my interest in book making in the future, whatever that may hold. Top of Page |
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2014 I've lived a lot of places, but where I currently call home when I'm not at IWU is Naperville, IL, a large southwest suburb of Chicago. My high school years were spent at Naperville Central High School which, during my senior year, was in a constant state of flux due to the ongoing renovations. Moving around as much as I did, combined with family vacations to national and state parks, as well as one amazing trip to Ireland (where I hope to study abroad junior year) has given me an appreciation for memory. When I visit a place I have seen or lived in, it is always interesting to see how things have changed, causing what I remember to become a part of the past. This last idea is really what drives most of my work. I think that if everything is changing, by the time I walk away, what I saw has already changed. The places that are most interesting to me are the old, intimate places and the stunning views outdoors. Both of these types of places hold the shadows of many memories of different people, and by photographing them, I try to record my own memory. My pieces are not perfectly realistic in the visual sense, but rather an attempt to represent what I felt when I was there, taking the photograph. Top of Page |
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2013 I am native to Detroit, Mi where I attended Martin Luther King High School. Currently, I am applying to study abroad in Florence, Italy. I am also a member of Kappa Pi, the art fraternity here at IWU. I have not officially declared a concentration yet because I am enamored with so many different media. Though I am leaning towards making printmaking my prime field, I have a newly found appreciation for painting. My interests range drastically from one day to the other, and things that I was inspired by yesterday may be completely eradicated today. However my pieces outside of assignments tend to always include a hint of nature, figural aspects, and something symbolic that stems from my African American background. Top of Page |
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2013 I am from St. Louis, Missouri where I went to Ursuline Academy High School. In my free time I enjoy practicing pilates and watching documentaries. Color is very important to me. It is almost always the aspect of my artwork that I connect with and love the most. I am inspired by the smaller details in life --the seemingly insignificant images that are often overlooked in the fast-paced world we live in. A lot of my art involves patterns, I've always found intricate designs to be fascinating. There isn't very much specificity in my passions (artistic or in general). There are simply too many styles, materials, techniques and subjects that I am captivated by; which is why I have had a hard time picking a concentration(s). But lately I have been leaning towards Printmaking. There is a lot versatility and craft involved. Whatever direction I end up going in, I will continue to place an emphasis on color and attempt to capture some essence of the natural world. Top of Page |
