Digital Commons Network^™

Relate, Shelby Horton

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

Humans have a tendency to be self-absorbed; because of that we’ve evolved our ability to communicate to one another, in many different ways, more advanced than any other animal on the planet. Humans always express themselves to one another through the emotions they feel in a certain situation. One form of communication that seems universal for humans is the way we react emotionally to each other. Through the processes of printmaking, etching and lithography, I am expressing a certain situation I may experience myself but also connecting my own experience with others; making my viewers feel relatable and connected with …

Zenvertigo, Jason Moore

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

The way I design is visually representative of the way I understand the world. Clean typography and strong layout are accented by texture, line and illustration to become understandable. There is no “because I said so” in my work, it all has a purpose and is meant to be calm, clear, and conscious of the viewer. To me rock climbing and graphic design are similar, both require focus, accuracy and awareness.

The architecture of an artificial wall is geometric and modern unlike the organic age-old beauty of a natural cliff. Zenvertigo is a climbing gym based in Anchorage, Alaska that …

Graphic, Xinyi Liu

Professional Practices (ART 399)

When I was young, I was attracted by Animate and Comics, started drawing childish colorful lines on blanket paper. I can easily draw those cartoon characters vividly, which has plant an art seed deeply inside of my heart. As I get older, I was being trained in school to draw much more professional ways. I work hard to invest in as many kinds of media as I can, but still focus on graphic design and digital drawing, especially for video games and movies, which brought me to art area.

I want to do concept design mostly in the future, like …

Yiyang Xie, Yiyang Xie

Professional Practices (ART 399)

Artist Statement

Yiyang Xie

In my freshman year, I studied photography, broadcasting, acting, sports and drawing. I discovered what I liked, and what I did not like. When I go to a fiction show. This show is you can use the artwork which made by this artist to create a photo which is not the same in the real. I saw a lot of people were happy at that time. I realized that an artist can bring happiness to people. After that, I decided to be an artist, because an artist is a magical being.

Most of my artwork is …

Reconsider Then Inform After Breaking Down, Kora Carlson

Professional Practices (ART 399)

The process of art is meticulous, becoming richer in layers as time passes. When art and the body come together, they immediately magnify an existence long before assemblage. I want to question predetermined existence through the use of found material. How the use of appropriation in art-making challenges patterns and creates a moment of change.

Objects exist only from years of meditation, but we can quickly reconsider their function through intentionality. I’m specifically focusing on relearning form, shape, and color after crossing the gender divide. How the ability to assert inclusion in time and space is symbolized by the transformation …

Ana's Exhibition, Ana Wahlers

Professional Practices (ART 399)

Artist Statement

I make fantasy inspired scenes that are naturalistic. This means the scene itself isn’t realistic, just the bodies or individual forms. Everything else is just various things put together that you wouldn’t normally see together. That way the scene is comprehensible, but you also can’t say, “That’s not accurate”. Real everyday scenes are kind of boring because there’s nothing to invoke an emotion in me, so I like to bring things that can only exist from the human mind into the picture. For example, I’ve done a few scenes of monsters or figures in a house or room. …

Hanna Kesty, Hanna Kesty

Professional Practices (ART 399)

I am not one to make myself the center of attention, therefore self-portraits or any aspect of myself were never an obvious choice. My work is developed from a personal narrative through drawing and printmaking, and is an opportunity to have an open conversation about mental health as a complex form that has multiple parts and pieces. Innocent, metaphorical objects help illustrate a variety of internal disruptions of that form. During the production process of a drawing or print there is a conversation of acknowledgement and honesty happening between these objects and myself.

These objects are depicted in minimalistic settings …

Professional Practices, Sarah Guinn

Professional Practices (ART 399)

When people look at the work that I’ve done at Murray State so far, I want them to notice my passion for the field. In the works that I have done so far, a few of my favorite things to instill are alignment, typography and color. In graphic design, these elements are important attributes to create a successful piece.

I typically try to imitate what attracts me to another person’s work. My art and design use a lot of contour lines, symmetrical balance, shape, and negative and positive space. Usually my mental process of starts with getting ideas in my …

Professional Practices, Shelby Adams

Professional Practices (ART 399)

Currently, I am focusing on the aesthetic nature of my artwork and how its appearance aids the use of it. My work tends to lean towards the more organic/imperfect side of crafting: whether it be in my ceramic work or metalsmithing, I enjoy the small variations in form that create a true sense of the handmade. I further this sense of hand-craftedness by exposing the materials themselves, such as leaving metal to patina over time or leaving the clay exposed while glazing. The strong sense of materiality within my work, along with their organic sense of form, creates very naturalistic …

Siany Riegger, Siany Riegger

Professional Practices (ART 399)

What viewers should be able to see in my artwork revolves around the concepts of the sublime and of nature in general. I am inspired by wildlife and encountering new birds on trips and am curious about the idea of nature in my work. For example, a painting that was done for an art history class in Baroque, depicts a robin on a branch, which is supposed to represent humility and how humans can look to nature as something of reverence. In terms of sublime, I create artwork about monsters and use compositions with unsettling conceptual themes or aesthetics. As …

Professional Practices, Jalynn Ashford

Professional Practices (ART 399)

Artist Statement

As a viewer looks at my work, it should serve to intrigue the viewer and instill curiosity upon them. I am creating work with clean and consistent line quality throughout the pieces and through this line quality, contour lines sometimes reoccur. Color palettes are being used that are bright colors paired with neutrals, which catches the viewer’s eye. Implementing pattern into my pieces is an element that I am striving to use more often to create more visual interest. A shape based illustration style is a process that is exciting for me to implement and therefore, it is …

Professional Practices Fall 2018, Lu Colby

Professional Practices (ART 399)

Complications with infertility and the states of despondency that come with it are themes that I personally connect with. When reflecting on what it means, personally, to be a woman I have always associated these thoughts with motherhood and home. I attempt to reflect on these thoughts and explore them through my work.

I dissect and experiment with these concepts through the use and symbolism of apples. The apple has many layers of symbolism and even biblical references as the forbidden fruit. The apple is said to be a symbol of knowledge, immortality, temptation, and the fall of man. It …

Welcome To My World, Sarah Mccann

Professional Practices (ART 399)

My work revolves around two dimensional drawings on small 9”x12” smooth Bristol Paper. In a sense I’m more of a traditional artist; I prefer to use Prismacolor Pencils, Watercolors, Copic Markers, Micron Pens, and White Gel Pens in my art. Not only have I created lots of drawings, but I have also painted a bit; about a year ago I had a piece put up on display at an Art Center in my hometown called the Glema Mahr Center for the Arts. Quite recently I have been into Digital art; I like to use the free software known as GIMP …

Fall 2018 Professional Practices, Claire Wilson

Professional Practices (ART 399)

While still being a college student, I have used many different practices to create artwork, differing from woodworking to metalsmithing and my emphasis, graphic design. However; the voice of my work always calls back to the theme which I feel the most connected to not only in my art making process, but also throughout my life as well. I believe nature and being outdoors is one of the keys to creating a happy life for ourselves – and is the place I feel most heard, comforted, and accepted. A hike through the woods or a day paddle boarding across the …

Tiffany Day, Tiffany Day

Professional Practices (ART 399)

I draw inspiration from parts of the visual world that strike me as strange and unique. I love to work with the concept of the extraterrestrial. So much of the universe is unknown to us that it is easy to imagine whatever you desire could be out there existing in it’s own world. Printmaking led me to the examination of the idea that there is more to be learned outside of our limited knowledge of space prompting me to make prints about exploring a new world. I used three separate plates to create a narrative using natural forms to create …

Casey Johnson: Professional Practices, Casey Johnson

Professional Practices (ART 399)

My art comprises one unifying idea: my own life experiences, specifically those relating to my family and friends. By depicting highly specific visual cues—such as clothing, crows, and the color blue—I combine multiple facets and memories in an attempt to communicate my feelings and experiences. Sometimes these symbols are universal; a yellow raincoat, for example, calls to mind childhood. Others are encoded within my own memories—a bird skull relates to a dream my friend had one night. My art is about more than myself; it is about finding common ground between me and my audience and exploring that overlap.

Through …

Compulsions, Alaina Goodlett

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

Human beings are creatures of habit. We often go through the same motions and activities day-to-day without even noticing the time spent on them. This behavior is frequently solidified through widely accepted practices as mundane as a daily reward on a mobile app or a discount at a restaurant after multiple purchases. Unfortunately, reoccurrence of this type can be unhealthy, leading to an excess of time spent on trivial things or maybe more spending than a budget might allow all for the sake of routine.

The same can be said of making. Craft is something that requires practice and repetition …

Above And Within, Caitlin Cronin

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

Above and Within

Caitlin Cronin

I am composing delicate forms in expansive spaces. These forms are present and responsive, like human figures existing in an atmosphere. The spaces of my paintings are tangible and subjective, almost as if to question whether the subjects in the space are truly alone.

The subjects that I compose in the atmospheres I create conjure memories and feelings based on their color, texture, posture, age, or aesthetic. As the expansive spaces created surround these delicate forms, I seek to convey a feeling of solitude and mystery as the vulnerable beings are embraced by the space …

Internetworked, Matthew Hahnes

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

In a digital world, things are assumed permanent, because there is no physical body to decay. The information exists as data, not tangible but encrypted and stored in a non-physical, worldwide card catalogue. As a counterpoint, our collective witness to the age of the immediate proves that when reduced to data, deletion or existence is dependent on relevance to the mainstream social sphere. By that sphere I refer to the top percentage of the most viewed and discussed content, the realm where the overlap of viewership creates an almost ubiquity of content across global and cultural divides. In this landscape, …

Unraveling Path, Ana Traceski

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

My art is an expansive pool of contrasting ideas formed by observation of the two cultures that have influenced who I am today. My art is about similarities and differences; of past times and of new experiences, of memories old and new. My art is about past and present surroundings that are cast in a different light, a new scope, by being filtered through personal expression. By spending time painting in my studio and by exploring subjects and characters from my life, near and far in order to artistically convey a moment in time.

Perceptions, receptions and misconceptions occur as …

Happy Family Company, Jaden Keeling

B.A./B.S. Practicum Group Exhibit (ART 499)

Happy Family Company was inspired by the people I meet on mission trips I take every two years. It is a wonderful experience that I encourage everyone I meet to partake in. Although mission trips are usually emotionally exhausting, overall the mood I experience is happiness. There is happiness within the families, as well as excitement and joy when they see our team. I revisit old friends and make new ones. My Jamaican friends are positive people who do not dwell on what they do not have.

This is the inspiration I wanted to capture in my brand. My brand …

Colliding Spaces, Hailey Church

B.A./B.S. Practicum Group Exhibit (ART 499)

As a figurative painter, I use my art to tell a story and evoke a feeling of seclusion vs. inclusion with my viewers. I use semi-anonymous figures to drive the feeling of relatability - whether that feeling is coming from a witness or a victim, is up to the viewer.

Tending to work with oil paint and loving its fluidity, the work I produce is about self-healing and growth through struggles. My work is inspired by the toughness instilled in me at a young age and the idea that, in order to help others, I must be able to help …

Colliding Spaces, Nancy Craven

B.A./B.S. Practicum Group Exhibit (ART 499)

Figurative work is what drives my art to convey and evoke emotion. The figures become derivatives of nature using organic lines, whether they are a naturalistic depiction or an abstraction.

My preferred mediums are woodworking and drawing. Many of my wood projects focus on form and are constructed of smooth, flowing lines with open spaces. My form-focused works are often modeled after things such as nature, the figure or music, and target a specific emotion or idea. Some of my works incorporate drawing and work in conjunction with a wood so that a specific concept can be conveyed. In …

Professional Blend 3, Kelsey Crawford

Professional Practices (ART 399)

The importance of people and their roles in society are of great interest to me. Within our society the idea that certain individuals are held higher than others is the most interesting of others, usually based off of the privileges they have such as money, class, respect from others that not everyone gets. The ideas of our current societal norms paired with expectations are fascinating to me and how we as humans begin to react to them is something I enjoy including in my work. I am a designer, an innovator, artist and creator of things. I focus on the …

Range, Aman Madan

Professional Practices (ART 399)

Artist Statement

My work explores a range of subject matter and themes, but I try to make all of it with a simplistic approach so people could relate and understand it better. I usually produce two types of artworks, i.e., drawings and graphically designed stuff like posters, illustrations, covers, reports, etc. I frequently use pencil and charcoal for drawings and adobe photoshop, adobe illustrator for illustrations and logos and InDesign for designing posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers, presentations, books.

I choose graphic design because I feel it is a is a good way to communicate to public and be creative …

Nance Craven_Propracsp18, Nancy Craven

Professional Practices (ART 399)

Figurative work is what drives my art to convey and evoke emotion. The figures become derivatives of nature using organic lines, whether they are a naturalistic depiction or an abstraction of an original form.

My areas of interest include woodworking and drawing. As an individual geared towards math, problem solving, drawing and craft, woodworking requires me to use these and other skills to create a successful work of art. The processes in which I create something starts with an idea of what I want a specific piece of art to be about, what I want it to look like, and …

Professional Practice Class, Alaina Goodlett

Professional Practices (ART 399)

Human beings are creatures of habit and familiarity. Automatic movements, speech patterns, and daily activities often develop to a point where they can go unnoticed by the person performing them. Habitual patterns can develop and change as subtly or drastically as we can; they can be as freeing or as obstructive as we allow. Habitual activity can become an important comfort, but can also lead to a reality full of restrictions and anxieties that can halt growth, rather than inspiring it.

My work focuses on the study of how habit and comfort through habitual pattern can affect daily life. I …

Head In The Clouds, Dakota Vincent

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

As an anxious kid, everything said or done could be distorted and inflated over time in my mind. Consequences of such small actions grew disproportionately in importance. I would focus my breath downward to avoid adding the resulting force to any destructive winds in the far distance. Pulling from this experience, I direct the viewer's’ attention to the small elements in painting that built up to create tension in a painting; the vague expectations and worries that interrupt the experience of space. The process is mainly working the surface of my paintings to set an explorable stage for the viewer …

Catherine Alexander, Catherine Alexander

Professional Practices (ART 399)

Have you ever created a whole entire story in your head? Or been looking at an old photograph and imagine how you would fit into it? My imagination constantly runs wild with all kinds of stories. My work deals with narratives rather they be fantasies or personal, represented through series of photographs and prints.

My screen prints focus on a particular story that’s a twist on ancient mythology, with subtle narrative I have created and mixed within it. The print gives the viewer just a small glimpse into the story’s narrative. I want the viewer to be able to identify …

Pro Prac Bailey Roman, Bailey Roman

Professional Practices (ART 399)

My preferred media is oil paint on varying objects and ink drawings. The subject matter is drawn from life or studied then imagined later in the studio to add a creative and unnatural feeling. Through the use of vibrant fractal shapes dissipating from the subject to captivate the viewer’s eye. I also take the liberty of using influences of pop artist, American Realists and Golden Age comic book art, I use the two periods and synthesize them into a more contemporary anatomy study. I really enjoy the dynamic and thick lines in both comic book illustrators and pop artists but …