get to the heART

Deidre Anderson
When I am taking a photograph or painting a picture I am always thinking about the relationship between humans and other living creatures on Earth. In my work I try to make people contemplate these relationships and how their actions affect them, whether it is in a positive or negative way. Through my work I try to raise awareness about these unique and delicate relationships.

At left: Mamacita, ink jet

Cristina M. Benz
During the last year I have developed a body of work that addresses formal issues, which has helped me to become more aware of content; including the figure. I am a responsive artist. I combine realistic subjects within an abstract environment by reflecting on and responding to my own personal experiences. Through a variety of media- drawing, watercolor, fiber and printmaking, I try to be spontaneous, free and fluid as I approach my subject.

At left: A Moving World, watercolor

Kay M. Colegrove
I enjoy working in an array of media and am particularly drawn to painting. Color is an important aspect of my work no matter the medium; it is the cohesive thread that binds all of my art. My interests lie not only in the visual excitement color can create but also the psychological and emotional impact internalized by the viewer. Currently, I am exploring grief and the different methods individuals use to live with it. Grief is a universal experience; through painting my own grief I hope to connect with the viewer on a personal level. My intention is to use art as a therapeutic means that expresses emotions and thoughts without using my voice and thus, empowering others to be more comfortable with their own dark emotions. Through my explorations I uncover secrets that help define who and why I am here. What is uncovered through this process is at times unclear but eventually makes a connection to the greater composition of my life.

At left: Bobby 6, watercolor

Christine K. Dillard
How we remember, what we choose to emphasize, and the experiences that influence our perception all aid in shaping our understanding of the natural world. When I think of the ocean, for example, I don’t merely imagine a photograph or postcard image. I remember how large the waves were as a child or how intensely cold the water was during winter. These shades of subjectivity make the memory of nature the most interesting thing for me as a painter. I enjoy painting because within it I find continual challenge. The answers are not obvious; they evolves as the space takes shape. Addressing the placement of the next mark, making choices regarding color and shape all lend to an intuitive process I appreciate. This process is a relief from the structure and formula that is so prevalent in daily life.

At left: Ocean Atmosphere #1 , oil

Hannah E. Edwards
Through photography and sculpture I try to capture a feeling for my life experiences. When making a piece I think of how to draw the viewer into my work in order to create an intimacy with the art piece and with myself. Through the use of space and varying viewpoints in my photography I try to give the viewer a sense of what I see in the world. In my jewelry and other sculptural work I try to draw the viewer in by adding layers of texture, thus forcing the viewer to look closer at the piece in order to see what is being portrayed. I am continually inspired to keep pushing my limits and to keep exploring new ways to share my life experiences with the viewer.

At left: A Mother's Peace, silver jewelry

Amie E. Kieffer
As an artist I mean to express the energy, beauty, struggle, joy, and truth experienced by humanity as I interpret it. I plan to tell a story in a moment, in a glimpse, in a stretch of paint, pastels, ink, or graphite just as a writer transcribes his or her thoughts onto paper. I find nature to be my inspiration. The organic curves of plant life and natural elements in general transcribe into a sort of echoing palpitation of strokes and marks within my work. I wish to give a fresh look into something one sees everyday, presenting it through my own artistic voice. This can be quite simple or quite complex, a reaction to what I see, feel and experience, narrating visually stories and emotions of the human experience. The exact plotline is left for the viewer to extract, but the images I create will become the catalysts in the setting, characters, and overall composition to direct the imagination of the onlooker.

At left: Looking Out, charcoal

Kathryn M. Korb
I believe we are born with innate connections, that these connections have shared history. Often times we are unaware of how these connections influence our interactions with our surroundings. Our ancestral heritage as well as the land we inhabit holds stories and breathes history that can tell us something about ourselves. If we take the time to value the history of the environment we live in, we honor not just the land but ourselves. In my work I create a visual language that communicates abstract ideas regarding emotional reactions to human connections with history, landscape, and the natural world.

At left: Flower for O, mixed media

Crystal Ann Liepa
A photographer is a conjurer of sorts, pulling and finessing the unseen out of people and environments. I aim to create fantastical images that exist in the imagination but somehow seem familiar. My work is borderline absurd at times because I focus on the contradictory and the unconventionally beautiful--I’m drawn to things that often go unnoticed.

At left: Seated Girl, c-print

Alex K. Nauman
I examine issues of power, responsibility, and inequality- and how it is exactly that these issues inform and mold our lives. I want the viewer to reexamine their thoughts/feelings/values in comparison to my work, to perhaps think about the subject in a new way. Music is influential in my work; its lyrical power often uncovers a more thoughtful examination of subjects. I want to do the same for myself and others, to give my experiences and the experiences of others more relevance.

At left: Empty/Solid, jewelry

Marta Anna Nowak
Since my arrival in the United States in 2004 my work has focused on conceptually based cultural issues. I utilize text, language and typography as prominent tools of investigation. I explore the idea of the other, the stranger: a person from another background, religion, race, a person unfamiliar to me. All these explorations are instigated acknowledging the existence of language as a device that equally facilitates communication and miscommunication. My interest in this subject is derived from my personal experience of coming to the United States and all the obstacles I faced while living in a foreign country on the American continent. Not only did I realize that language is both a bridge and a barrier, but I also gained a better understanding of the importance of the written language. I am strongly interested in contemporary architecture and I am pleased by a simple but elegant aesthetic. I enjoy working with form and shape, flat colors and repetition in order to create unity and harmony in the design.

At left: The Wall, installation

Angelina Irene Peluso
Reflected in my work is the ever quickening pace of human infestation on the planet Earth, specifically in the United States of America . Consumption, individualism, capitalism, advertising and destruction of natural landscapes are frequent themes. I find serious themes such as these make it necessary to create humor and beauty in my visual expressions. Road kill, animal skulls and imaginary creatures come to life with expressive line and bright colors, which form their own world in this body of work. This world is intense but light hearted, sad, but beautiful. It is a dystopia that can create conversation among viewers who may not generally discuss such topics. I gear my art toward a younger generation because I am passionate about community and helping youth understand their significance in a world in which human life is destroying the planet.

At left: My Children, mixed/plan media

Ashley Brianne Rick
A photograph is a portal into the mind; it is a tangible thought. As an artist, my inspiration is humanity itself. I question what makes us human and what does not. What specifically separates us from other organisms, and what connects us to the natural world? What behaviors are products of socialization? Which ones are innate? Why does a specific gesture provoke a specific response? These are the questions that inspire me and in turn make my photographs intimate, honest, and provocative. Much of my portraiture is interactive; my subject looks back at the viewer and tries to initiate a dialogue. The photos stare back into the viewers’ eyes and ask, “Who am I, and who are you?” I aim to create awareness and meaning in the seemingly mundane aspects of life, to capture moments in life that people experience every day, but, unless someone takes the time to take the photograph, print it, frame it, and the put it on the wall for all to see then those moments would pass unnoticed.

At left: Cut the Cord, c-print

Whittney A. Streeter
In life and stories we strip people down to main points or interesting facts, turning anyone into a much less dynamic or faceted person, in a sense making a 'character' (two-dimensional and palatable) out of them. I love to see not only patterns in the characters we find/create [common or reoccurring (archetypal?) characters], but how characters are flattened and what is left out of the retelling about them. What happens to the boogieman when he is in love? Where does the seductress buy her groceries? I want for art to move people, either physically or psychologically.For me, art should not be comfortable. The viewer should not be able to step into the world of a piece, and then out again like a warm bath; they should be left with something, changed by the work in some way. Then, in order to return to the real world and the way things were before they must resolve what they have seen or experienced, and by resolving it, they are further changed. This is one of the great powers of art and the loftiest goal of my work.

At left: Mama Ocean Swallows a Steamboat, oil on board

Sara K. Udvig
Aspiring to dismantle the whole into interlocking (puzzle) pieces, my work reflects my personal passion for continual self-questioning, preservation and redefinition. I am interested in causal relationships in life that ultimately form a chain, linking incident to impact, impact to reaction and reaction to the consequent possibility of irrepressible counteraction. By way of illuminating pieces of life's greater puzzles; re-presenting processes of identity formation to the viewer, my work will challenge both contemporary perception of self and the model society provides for assessing self value. I recognize that life has a way of abstracting outcomes; our original intentions or expectations in any given scenario are continually discarded to uncover greater appreciation for a plan that was never ours. My work speaks to the freedom this truth embodies, relieving the pressure felt by individuals to be anyone but who we are.

At left: Distilled Life I, oil on canvas