Final exhibition for Professor Ryan Kelly’s Art 494 course featuring art work by Emily Collins, Penguin Davis, Bryn Lilly, Matt Marinez, Jacinda Reckleff, Karissa Reske, Sophia Roca, Estelle Ronayne, Kylee Smith, Bryce Squires, Desi Valdez and Rachel Williams.
“Because he had to be punished” 8.5×11 inches (6x) 50mm digital photographs on six sheets of printer paper, tape. Digitally composited for exhibition. 2021
Artist Statement / Bryce Squires
With this ongoing series of self portraits, I’m investigating my sense of identity and its relation to my religious trauma. The series’ title comes from an answer I wrote to a question on a piece of Bible study homework from my childhood.
In the first of image, I attempted to fit my body into the camera’s frame, which I outlined with tape. I hoped for these images to communicate the sense of unworthiness, limitation and distrust of the body which was taught to me through my Evangelical upbringing. I manage to fit myself into the frame once, in the final image, in which I bow to the camera.
The other images in the series function as an ongoing investigation of my sense of self, my interests, my gender identity and sexuality. They continue to use tape as a symbol: I applied clear tape to the sheets of paper before printing on them, preventing the ink from drying. I also allowed my printer to partially run out of ink, distorting the colors. With this starting point, I moved the ink around, applied and removed tape, and made other adjustments and marks. In the first set of images, the tape functions as a border, as a guide of where to be. As the series continues, the tape becomes a clearer source of distortion, interruption, and violence.
The photos themselves are of me doing various things in solitude. They were all taken with a tripod and its timer function, so the photography process was very self-involved. In the second image, I sat on the opposite side of the taped-off border from the first image and put on a dress. The third image is a composite of photos of climbing a tree while wearing it.
Though I’m beginning to feel more comfortable exploring my identity, my ability to do so feels limited not only by trauma, but also by the pandemic, and by my age. Much of my adolescence/early twenties has been spent untangling difficult beliefs, thought patterns, and experiences rather than enjoying myself or exploring or learning. My growth, and ability to grow can seem to me somewhat stunted. At times, I struggle to fully access my emotions, with which I have a distrustful relationship. I hope that the tape’s influence over these images communicates that sense of inner detachment and conflict and illustrates that process of untangling.
Artist Statement / Bryn Lily
In these works I am exploring and reflecting on my childhood and adolescence . After leaving my hometown it made me reflect on the societal norms and pressures it held. These works are a response to my own experience living there and the feelings I have about my town through the lens of my understanding now. While still living there I was not fully aware of how heavily the town’s norms and pressures were able to influence my life until I left. These works are a visual representation of my reflection of how my hometown’s pressures affected my own adolescence and thinking growing up. This series is made up of 3 paintings. I use paint, fabric, and other materials to create multimedia collage style paintings expressing my reflection on my adolescence. All of the paintings are made with acrylic paint, photo transfers with photos from the internet, pieces of fabric, and other added materials. The mix of materials is meant to represent the chaotic nature of the child/ teenage brain. The transfers are the main materials that are collaged together to tell a story, mixed with some painted objects. I am using acrylic paint to paint patterns and designs to blend in the transfers and as a way to connect the transfers and make the painting cohesive. I am making flat shapes with patches of pattern as a representation of the different thought patterns one goes through. I use a brightly colored palette for these pieces to represent how the outward presentation of my hometown seems ideal but upon closer inspection it can be a very toxic environment. I am using other extra materials to further the collage style, adding 3D details that give the paintings a feeling of childhood collage. The materials are used to further the idea of adolescence and represent the thought process as a teenager along with my thoughts as an adult reflecting on that time.
Image 1: Dimensions 20inx16in
Image 2: Dimensions 32inx40in
STATEMENT / Desi Valdez
Lately a lot of my frustration has come from a reflection of myself; my skin color, my familial background and where I’m at regionally.
Since January 2021, I’ve been rendering a body of work that uses Chicano imagery, specifically from Southern California, and approaching the themes of Chicano identity with hesitation, appreciation, and a somber respect.
[Chicano – an American of Mexican origin or descent]Rural, northwest Washington has been my exposure to Chicano culture. An entire life here hasn’t given a clear understanding of said culture. All I knew about being Chicano was the occasional visit down to California, stereotypes portrayed in media, and slurs thrown at me in middle school.
When I began printmaking, beginning with stone lithography, I saw some sort of way to physically represent this disassociation. Stone lithography, as a process, is laborious, fragile, repetitious, and generally all consuming. With the constant battering of thoughts of being culturally “left out,” being so prevalent over years and years, this medium has helped those concepts flesh themselves out.
This body of work has expanded into other mediums within printmaking as well, with recently learning how to screen print, I’m able to take photographs of subjects such as lowriders, cholos, chicano punks, dogs, and all the intense, flash-y parts of the culture, burn them onto a screen and deconstruct them with colors, layers, and arrangements. Spending several hours picking and pulling images in this vein, brings forth complex sentiments. The space between my understanding of Chicano culture and my own identity has lessened, but also blurred. The use of blatant imagery within the culture forces a connection while also creating an “outsider” role more potent than ever.
-Desi Valdez
“I’m Yr Puppet I, II, & III”
screen print on paper
10.5” x 12” each. 2021
Chicano Figurine Raga
screen print on paper
12” x 14.5”. 2021
Artist Statement / Emily Collins
My work is studio based using a variety of traditional and digital media. These materials are combined to create visually dynamic compositions that convey the emotion of the corresponding narrative.
The subject matter of my work is rooted in mental health. Specifically, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Anxiety, and Depression. For this project I created a three-part comic book containing short narratives based on the daily struggles and obstacles ADHD, Anxiety, and Depression create. To begin the design process, I drafted character sketches and layouts using graphite pencils, charcoal, chalk pastel, and ink pen. This process involved stream-of-consciousness sketching while I meditated on my experiences with these disorders. During this messy ideation process, I captured the emotions and aesthetic I want to convey to the audience for each disorder. Beginning with traditional drawing materials allowed me to quickly edit, adjust, and commit to the character figures and scenic design. Once the layout and preliminary sketches were complete, I scanned the pages into Photoshop. Using the rectangle tool, I arranged boxes in a modern take on the classic comic design. After the inner dialogue was blocked out, the sketches were then traced using the brush tool to outline the shapes and figures that would become the characters and props. Though sketching the images on paper first only to re-drawing them in Photoshop may seem unnecessary, I find this process makes it easier to accurately capture and refine the character gestures, expressions, and proportions. To color the comics, paint tools were used to fill in the outlines. Layers were then added to each figure to create shadows and highlights, giving a slight 3D form to the characters. Using the gaussian blur, I created backgrounds for the pages and individual boxes to further the aesthetic of each disorder. This process was repeated for the title page of each section.
With this project, I hope to illuminate the invisible difficulties that individuals suffering from mental health disorders silently endure. By combining the twentieth-century practice of comic books with modern day digital technology, I am presenting the topic of mental health from a personal perspective to the viewer in a familiar format. My mission is to start an informed dialogue regarding mental health in an effort to normalize and destigmatize these commonly misconstrued yet highly common disorders. Opening these conversations will instill empathy, understanding, and tolerance in viewers for those living with these invisible illnesses.
Invisible, 9”x 6”, Photoshop, 2021
Artist Statement: Estelle Ronayne
In this piece, I recreated the surface geology of the North Cascades with embroidery. I referenced the Department of Natural Resources’ Washington Geologic Information Portal for source imagery and employed a variety of embroidery stitches, from simple backstitches to more complex bullion knots. These different stitches are intended to add a variety of textures to a two-dimensional subject. Stylistically, this piece references the works of Richard Diebenkorn, where flattened landscapes are brought to life and abstracted with vibrant colors. I chose to use a small scale and stitchwork to encourage the viewer to look closely and observe small details which are easily missed.
Additionally, the stitching recalls ideas surrounding women’s work. By combining a traditionally feminine technique with the historically male dominated world of scientific research, the piece creates a dialogue about gender inequality in the workplace. For centuries, women have played important roles in science. However, women in science have historically faced severe gender discrimination, causing them to be overlooked and their contributions misattributed to male coworkers. Even now, these issues persist. Here, I acknowledge and highlight the scientific research done by women while also urging the viewer to reflect on their own actions which may reinforce traditional gender roles.
As a student who studies art and science, I have spent a lot of time thinking about scientific communication and ways it can be improved. I believe strongly in the importance of presenting clear and accessible science to researchers and the public alike. I enjoy exploring interdisciplinary approaches to communicate scientific discoveries visually and integrating science into everyday life. In my artwork, I aim to capture a feeling of intimacy, allowing the viewer to become familiar with new scientific ideas.
North Cascades 8”x 10” embroidery thread on cotton fabric. 2021
Artist Statement / Jacinda Reckleff
My work comes from a place of escapism, and the aim to derive amusement from the alternate realities I construct. Working in a variety of approaches, which include short film, oil painting, photography, and ceramics, my main focus is on having a good time somewhere other than the present. I often use the people in my life as “characters” of some sort, incorporating them into my work in order to bring a biographical aspect to my art. In the same vein, I use locations that are personally significant as settings in the pieces that I create.
I prefer to work on a larger scale. In doing this, the alternate worlds I construct feel more real. My oil paintings on panel, The Jacinda Show I & II exemplify this. In these large paintings, I took Google Earth screenshots of my grandmother’s hometown in New Mexico and remade the settings using objects obtained from the Dollar Tree. In doing this, I created a new world that is extremely appealing to my own tastes, while still reminding me of my beloved grandmother.
My most recent work, a series of oil paintings entitled, Please Call My Friends, also uses similar themes. Referencing late 80s and early 90s 1-900 hotline commercials, I insert people from my own life into them, and use aspects of their respective lives to point out the absurd nature of these commercials. In sexualizing my friend’s job as an editor for public access television, and the goth lifestyle of my other friend, I attempt to point out the strangeness of the specific hotlines they used to have–like the one to talk to “nurses” or only to blonde women.
When looking at my work, I encourage viewers to insert their own friends and locations into the spaces and situations I create. I want people to have fun imagining a different situation than the one that is currently happening. For me at least, it is a lot more fun than what I have going on now.
1. Public Access TV Is Sexy, 24” x 36”, Oil on canvas, 2021
2. Hot Goth Rose, 24” x 36”, Oil on canvas, 2021
Artist Statement / Kylee Smith
My body of work primarily consists of oil paintings that attempts to focus on themes of identity, internal contradictions, and rediscovering the joy of childish objects. My paintings portray unlikely combinations of natural beings with inanimate objects. I blend the flesh and fuzz of humans, animals, and insects with that of toys and cartoon monsters. These unnatural mashups give un-realness to the real and animate the inanimate. The way I tackle painting my subject matter is striving for the result of an outcome that is pleasantly unpleasant and vice versa.
As a queer biracial person with a load of internal turmoil, it has been difficult to grapple with what large parts of my identity are and should be. I want to represent the grotesque portrayed in a charming way incorporating little bits of child-like objects to bring an element of goofy fun. I want to represent our irreversible qualities that feel impossible to reconcile with in a somewhat charming manner. As an artist, the skill I want to really develop right now is the ability to push my own boundaries when it comes to rendering the grotesque. I want to have discomfort looking at my own self-made creature and then make something even more unearthly. I’m also learning how to adapt the feeling of nostalgia or naiveness into my work. I’ve been inspired by a couple artists to incorporate cartoon features (Baldur Helgason and Ryan Christian) in a rendered way that holds more depth. It’s critical for me myself to find the uneasy charm in my own work.
Creating an environment for things that really don’t exist and rendering those things to the best of my ability has been the primary way that I execute my pieces. I’ve recently been trying to render blemished and irritated flesh, working with rough and textured application of paint. I strive for the fleshy features to look raw and distressed. Along with that facet I’ve been complimenting it with a more smooth rendering of hair-like features and bold rendered depictions of cartoonish eyes. To highlight the dimensionality of my figures, I place them in front of flatly rendered backgrounds and textures.
I’d like for people to see visual contradictions that feel unnatural and unacceptable. Furthermore, I just really want people to see the playfulness and bizarre harmony of the unrealistic environments that I strive to create. Defining myself as an individual is messy and can feel synthetic or dishonest. At times I feel confused or too timid to try to decipher my thoughts. So here I am, making paintings that have vividly saturated and rendered beings. No one aspect of my pieces convey clear or direct symbolism. It is a definite jumble of things that I would like to see exist together. Alas, they do not physically exist but we all have our ugly-pretty jumble of unnatural things inside of us.
“Fuzzy Turmoil” H: 24” L: 36”
“Docile Fears” Triptych, each panel is 12”x12”
Artist Statement / Matt Marinez
The work I am creating is a series of photographs that both illustrate and demonstrate the idea of liminality within select spaces in Bellingham, Washington. Liminality is known as a state of transition between one stage and the next, especially between major stages in one’s life or during a rite of passage.
Liminal spaces are all around us. They are the hallways we walk through to get to our hotel rooms and they are also the highways we drive on to get to our homes. In attempting to get from point A to point C, liminality is point B. It is the in-between space that pushes this concept of transition. Often, when I am in a liminal space, I have the feeling of just being on the verge of something, but I’m unsure of what to do with that feeling. I find this experience of unease and disorientation to be desirable due to the eventual sense of euphoria created once you have the realization you are in one of these spaces and can take in your surroundings. This feeling can be captured and contained by the particular setting of the exact scene. It is my goal that those who view this work will find themselves feeling similar thoughts and feelings as one inhabiting the same space.
“Quietly There” is a collection of 18 total photographs, split into a distinct format of six triptychs. Each triptych works to function as an individual set that portrays liminality in a specific space within Bellingham. Ultimately, when viewed in conjunction with each other, they work towards forming a cohesive expression of the idea as a whole but also function to express the very idea of liminality with the middle photo quite literally in a space between one photo and the next. I have chosen to utilize medium format film for this project, otherwise known as 120 film. With 10 photos allotted per roll, this keeps my shooting intentional and allows me to compose my images in a much more deliberate manner.
Quietly There, 2021, 12” x 32”in, 120 film
Penguin Davis Written Statement
My art is an expression of my thoughts and emotions. The work I create is a way for me to face the issues and events of my life, and hopefully bring to light similar issues other people are dealing with and a possible way for them to confront their issues as well. The hope is to tackle subjects that many view as too difficult to talk about, in a way that can allow myself and others to begin to process and cope with these subjects. From there, I want my work to entice others to think about their own experiences in a new light, and maybe begin to understand and overcome those experiences. My current work is focused on nightmares, more specifically my own nightmares. In my nightmares I am plagued by specific creatures, over time I have started to realize that they are a manifestation of emotions, feelings, and traumas. It is these creatures that I want to create, by doing so I hope to better understand them.
I felt the best way to go about this was though wearable sculptures. By wearing the costumes, I can inhabit the space through them, as a viewer it is easier to confront them in the real world. In the nightmare scape they hold all the power and terror, in the real world it is not the case. When looking at the materials I wanted to use for them it is about the look and feel. My nightmares are real to me so I want to use materials that will give the right textures while also having the flexibility to work organically and with not a lot of weight. Due to an injury, I cannot lift a lot on one side of my body. Which was why I landed on EVA foam (like anti-fatigue floor mats). This is an interesting material with a lot of potential. EVA foam is something that can be treated just like wood without the weight problem. It can be carved and shaped, with the clay version I am able to sculpt and model.
With the versatility of my materials, I have been able to create these wearable sculptures. It has been a very personal project for over a year, and I hope to continue to make them. Everyone has nightmares and for the most part it stays in childhood. My hope is to connect the viewer to that feeling of waking up in terror and understanding where it comes from.
Forest Stalker
14in H x 12in L x 2 in D
EVA foam and EVA foam Clay
2021
Artist Statement / Rachel Williams
My body of work shows a scene from a fairytale in a life size scale made of paper. It shows the scene from Cinderella where she loses her slipper on the staircase fleeing the ball. The installation has been painted with ink and watercolor to showcase a picture book’s paintings.
I wanted to create a work that would encapsulate the theme of fantastical, and harken back to the wonder a child experiences. Cinderella is a story that most people know so it has a sense of nostalgia for most people including myself. Cinderella was one of my favorite tales growing up and the scene where she loses her slipper is magical. I made the installation to look like a large 3d watercolor painting you can step into, filling the audience with a sense of wonder. My past work has been costumes, inkwork, and paintings, so this combines them all into one masterpiece. Since my piece is an installation it fits well with contemporary art, especially since a lot of art today is mixed media like this piece is. It is like a large diorama with theatrical elements to it, and I think this installation suits well an exhibit focusing on fairy tales, with other related installations, for example Sleeping Beauty or Thumbelina. My inspiration comes from old children’s picture books that had watercolor images in them, the most famous images come from Alice in Wonderland’s artist John Tenniel. His art style is an old inking technique using cross hatches. The technique I want to really set firm is the inked lines, and the painterly style across all the elements so they align and appear homogeneous.
The installation is of the scene from the tale Cinderella where Cinderella flees the ball and loses her slipper on the staircase of the castle. The main elements will be Cinderella in her ballgown, the staircase, and the slipper. Ideally in the future I will add the carriage to this scene as well that Cinderella escapes in. It will be life size so that those who experience the installation can wander through the scene itself.
Lost Slipper, 5 by 5 feet, fabric and paper, 2021
Artist Statement / Sophia Roca
My body of work, Vantage is based around my current position in life where the concerns for my friend’s mental health constantly lurk in the back of my mind. No other activities seemed relevant while he was hospitalized, presenting a rift of change in my life. Isolating myself with close friends, our priority was to help reassure each other of our hospitalized friend’s health. The animation I have made in response to this emanates the importance of recognizing warning signs and the perspective of a loved one showing them through the narrative. My interest in time-based media derives from my love for storytelling that captures raw emotions from my personal experiences. The influence of Japanese animations that was introduced by my hospitalized friend has motivated me to create a “shonen” anime intro for him; possessing elements of action, adventure, drama, and fighting.
Touching on mental health awareness and suicide prevention, my friends and I are depicted as a team of superheroes who are missing one crucial member named Draven. On the journey to find him, the group uncovers the signs of depression through a shadowy demon they encounter. The creature is revealed to be connected with Draven’s emotions, representing his fluctuating mental state. The fearless three fight the demon in representation of unwavering support for their missing friend. While following him, the team discovers the demon portrays the bottled up feelings their friend hid from everyone. Reaching the climax, the heroes at long last find their missing link. However with Draven’s negative orb power, he erases himself from existence, delineating how suddenly feelings can take over rationality and change the lives of those involved. In the final scene, the viewers get a glimpse of a black void where Draven sits alone in fetal position to leave them with the same sense of impatient waiting I went through.
In the course of producing a short introduction, it was essential to work meticulously for the narration and movements of the animation. Under close consideration, I decided that a linear storyline for my animation was the best approach to deliver a concise message of recent circumstances. To maintain the content enticing to viewers, fight scenes were referenced from the anime series, My Hero Academia. The process of altering each frame on Photoshop became therapeutic — paying close attention to detail acts as a mirror that allows me to reflect on warning signs I may have not previously seen before, taking the title name, Vantage.
Vantage, 2021. 1920×1080 pixels, 16:9 aspect ratio
Photoshop
Artist Statement / Karissa Reske
Recently, life has been moving too fast, and changing quickly. I feel as if I haven’t had a moment to acknowledge where I am in life in this moment in time, or even control it, much less acknowledge how I’m feeling about it. In a sense, I am using this series as a way to step back and look at a mess that chance has made and reconnect with or rediscover myself through it.
I have been doing acrylic paint pours over canvas covered MDF (medium density fiberboard), and developing them into portraits based on my emotions at the time. The acrylic paint is mixed with a pouring medium that renders the dried paint glossy. This has presented its own issues with having to add layers of matte medium on top before painting, and finishing with another glossy medium on top. I’ve been experimenting with pouring the paint with different techniques, such as pouring individual colors directly onto the board, pouring multiple colors in one cup and then pouring onto the board, and a mixture of the two. The color palette was chosen based on what I wanted my mood to be in at the time. I was feeling sort of nervous and reserved, but I wanted to be confident and daring with it. As the paint pours and dries, it goes through a set of changes with the paint seeping off the board and mixing in its own beautiful way, and it’s interesting watching the initial pour morph into what will be the base painting for me to derive my inspiration from. I have a tendency to try and make everything perfect in my art, and I think it derives from the connotations of what people determine an artist to be. For a while, I thought that my art wasn’t good until I replicated something to a perfect degree, but I needed to step away from those connotations and work in a free environment without the stress of a blank canvas looming over me.
I’ve never fully practiced the art of self-discovery and recovery within art before, but it has slowly been helping my mental state. Each time I sit down to work on these paintings, I close my eyes and try to reflect on the recent events in my life before beginning to paint. It has been interesting taking a break from each painting and then returning to it to finish it. Seeing the image again after having time away, and either realizing that I haven’t fully worked through the emotion, or feeling appreciative for overcoming it (this is more idealistic, haven’t quite experienced overcoming emotions yet…). I hope my work sparks emotion within the viewer, just as it did with me, and that they are more encouraged to check in with themselves after viewing it.
1. Destruction
8” x 10”, Acrylic on MDF Canvas Board, Spring 2021
2. Deprecation
11” x 14”, Acrylic on MDF Canvas Board, Spring 2021