Fall 2024 – Graduate Art Exhibition
Madeline J Boyd
Through my artwork, I strive for growth and healing above all. Ever since I was a little girl I have adored the beauty of artwork and the creative process. In moments of pain and suffering, I would rely on the creative process to comfort me, and allow me to feel what I needed to grow. At one point in my life I stopped creating art because I doubted my capabilities so deeply to the point that I no longer wanted to create. I missed the feeling of creating, and the release that creation made me feel. Around this time in my life I learned about art therapy, and fell in love with the concept of loving the creative process and less on what is created. Now that I follow this philosophy, I admire my art more than ever before. As an art therapist/ artist I create to see myself grow and become the person that I am forever meant to be. Portfolio.
Cerra DeJulis
Art has been a constant in my life since my earliest memories. Passion, however, has been something that I have grown with careful consideration, trusting myself, allowing time for processing, and ample self-care. My passion for the arts came through experiencing them. Whether the medium is paint, music, charcoal, or poetry, I put myself in a state of total immersion and focus only on the flow that occurs naturally within me. How would I feel if I was this paint on the end of a brush? If I were this piece of torn paper, where on the page would I want to be glued? When I view the pieces I’ve created, the words that often come to mind are rhythmic, messy, anxious yet familiar, and instinctive. My creative process typically starts with a mellow R&B record followed by bringing every piece of art supplies I own and placing them in front of me. After that, it’s a silent dance between my hands and my fine-art trained brain. Impulsivity is very important to me when creating art as I’ve struggled with hyperfocusing and brain fog for the entirety of my life. Through art and my creative process, I have found strength and comfort. Portfolio.
Sandi Gerner
Throughout my life, art has been a major outlet for me. Now that I am an adult discovering my place in the world I am seeking how I can continue to use art both professionally and for self-expression. In each piece of my art I reveal how I see the world, as well as my deep love for humanity as a whole. Many of my pieces are made with traditional drawing materials, some paint, and several made digitally. What I truly love about my work is that it is highly experimental, which is an analogy for my life thusfar as a young adult. I am testing what I like and what I don’t like, and it is a wonderful process. Portfolio.
Angela Lowden
I appreciate and value art in many forms. I believes that it is a powerful source of self-expression that can change and improve one’s life. My portfolio of artwork includes digital collage, 3D art, drawings, watercolor, photography of landscape, ruins and interior design, dance, and architecture. Color, movement, shape, scale, light, perspective, and composition are important components. The various mediums used are digital Portfolioart, colored pencils, feathers, adornments, pastels, watercolor paint and paper, and acrylic paint. Religion has inspired many architects, most notably Antoni Gaudi as evidenced by the architecture of the Sagrada Familia Catholic church in Barcelona, Spain. The collages that are presented encompasses my belief that the visual arts elicit powerful, emotional, visceral responses and a third space as inquiry, thus supporting art therapy. Garden design could be considered visual phenomenology as well because it is an experience within a visual landscape and a mode of interacting with the environment and an investigation of visual experience. It can be a metaphor for peace, beauty, nature, tranquility, meditation, and evokes a positive memory. Reflecting on my body of artwork has validated my values concerning the positive influence of the arts on our holistic being. Portfolio.
Jordan Magnani
I believe that art serves as a powerful conduit for both personal expression and continuous growth. Through my creative journey, I have discovered that each choice, brushstroke, and color allows a glimpse into my inner world, translating emotions, thoughts, and experiences onto canvas.My artistic process is not merely about creating visually appealing pieces but about delving into personal emotions and experiences. It is a journey of exploration and self-discovery, where each artwork becomes a mirror reflecting my evolving perspective on life. In periods of my life where I have found myself unable or unwilling to create, it has felt as if some part of me was missing. Allowing the creative process to guide me through these roadblocks and give me the means to express this turmoil productively truly was the key to moving forward. While my work is often bright, whimsical and colorful, I often include underlying themes of my own struggles with mental health, nonconformity and mortality.Creating,sharing and experiencing art opens a dialogue between creator, creation and the audience that can express the shared human experience, fosters personal growth and inspires a deeper connection to the world around us. Portfolio.
Mykaela Mclamar
I began my artistic journey as a child working primarily with graphite pencils, colored pencils, and Sharpie-brand markers on lined notebook paper. Eventually, as I grew, so did my choice of mediums. I began utilizing charcoal, ink, alcohol markers, and watercolor paints in my day-to-day artwork. As the years passed, I and my artistic abilities matured significantly. I continued to expand the materials I chose to work with to include a number of additional mediums such as traditional oil and acrylic paints, sculpture, collage and assemblage, printmaking, photography, pottery, and even woodburning. My preference, however, is digital art. As one explores my artwork, it’s evident that psychological aspects and emotional expression inspire me. Portfolio.