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Tyler Haynie

Guiltiest pleasure?

Little Ceasar’s Deep-Dish Pizza. It may be made of cardboard, they may have them sitting in the store for hours so the crust is all stale, and it may have the nutritional equivalent of smoking crack, but it’s the perfect blend between pizza and cake and I think that’s amazing.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Oh yeah, but not strictly in the romantic-comedy sort of way. It’s more of appreciating the choices that you make that are completely obvious: like seeing a sandwich right away that you know you’ll really like, or finding a new favorite shirt in the store. There’s just something so liberating about making a decision based solely on intuition and so little detail, and then never having to regret it.

Early riser? Late nighter? Neither? Both? Early riser. Not by choice mind you: if I could sleep in I would. Luckily I relish the mornings. It’s a smooth early twilight time of day where nobody bothers you and gives you a bit of free reign before you have to trudge through the rest of the day. Not that I don’t enjoy the nights too, but the mornings let me spend fresh energy for things I like before routine rips out my youthful enthusiasm.

What is your art about?

Tyler Haynie works exclusively with a computer mouse and a cluster of pixels, though “work” is hardly the proper verb. Haynie’s craft is about play, and its effect on stress and anxiety. By means of an illustrative vector style and vibrant colors, he explores play not only as an active engagement, but also as a passive perspective. Haynie’s art applies humorous mannerisms and silly flippancy to the awkward, the aberrant, and the mundane. This emphasizes the importance of seeking the redirection of stress, rather than the distraction from it. His projects accentuate the use of play in the diversion of tension associated with a modern lifestyle, and channeling it into productivity.

Tyler Haynie is a graphic artist born out of Karlsruhe, Germany, and has been living in Colorado Springs, Colorado for the past ten years. Haynie has operated in digital space since 2010 and also works in video, web design, and motion graphics. He enjoys hiking, jogging, movies, and Dungeons and Dragons with friends. Graduating from University of Colorado, Colorado Springs with a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Art, Haynie is intent on pursuing a career as an industrial graphic designer.

Dean_Slash_ty

DeanSlashTy

tylerhaynie.com

Tyler Haynie, Dill-Dog, Digital print, Dimensions variable, 2020.

See the work of Haynie and his fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Niki Puigdevall

What passions outside of artmaking do you pursue?

I shuffle and cut shapes. Dancing is my ideal activity for both releasing energy and gaining energy. It is also my favorite way to connect with strangers.

How do your parents feel about you getting an art degree?

My parents have been incredibly supportive of me. They understand that I am my own person and that my lifestyle choices may vary from theirs. Above all they believe in me, love me, and see my passion for what I do. I am so grateful to have them as role models and as my biggest support.

How do you address process in your practice?

My process is a combination of strategic planning and organic making. I think it is important to have some form of structure to begin with, and to be completely open to adapting the plan to the outcomes of an organic process. Process is very important to me because it shapes the work. The primary idea serves to start the process , but the process reveals the piece and its real, honest meaning to me. It’s a way to uncover subconscious symbolism.

What is your art about?

Niki Puigdevall works with three-dimensional materials which occupy the same space as her viewers, typically on a smaller scale to emphasize intimacy. Her work explores duality in various forms: dainty biological elements juxtaposed within transparent synthetic materials, familiar representations of bodies in the surreal, and the psychological relationship between light and darkness. By referencing close human connections she is interested in the dualities of spiritual and tangible life that can be experienced simultaneously. Puigdevall’s work touches upon the fragility of existence in life and death, rejoicing and mourning, and faith and fear.

Niki Puigdevall lives and works in Colorado. She will receive her B.A. in Visual Arts from the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs in 2020. Her sculptures are exhibited in group shows Array and Apparition at the UCCS Gallery of Contemporary Art. This year she will have a permanent public sculpture, Seasons Change, We Grow Together, installed at the University Village.

Niki Puigdevall, Preserved Interrelation, epoxy resin, carnation flowers, LED light, dimensions vary, 2019.

See the work of Puigdevall and her fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Liz Bristle

The narratives in your work are personal, is that empowering?

Narratives and personal narratives have always been a part of my practice even when I am not directly referencing them in my work, they are always present and prominent in shaping what I make and why.

What drew you to create art? How did you start creating art?

I have been making art since I was very young but felt only until recently that I have started to wake up and begin to make art that really matters to myself comments on the broader world.

What keeps you awake at night?

Anxiety.

What is your art about?

Liz Bristle researches the monstrous in works that deal with feminism and spirituality through addiction, sexuality, and womanhood. The pieces are abrasive, disturbing and beautiful, using every day, domestic materials in ways that disguise and question their function. Bristle’s sculptures delve into personal trauma and vulnerability to shed light on complicated experiences in human relationships. Prominent materials in Bristle’s practice are syringes, spray paint, needles, thread, and bodily fluid.  

Liz Bristle was born in 1991 in Fargo, North Dakota. In 2020 she will receive her BA in Visual Arts at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Bristle will be included in exhibitions such as Apparition at GOCA Downtown in Colorado Springs, CO, and upcoming Art Club Spring Showcase. Bristle currently lives and works in Colorado Springs, CO.

@liz.bristle

lizbristle.com

Liz Bristle, Abjection, syringes, glue, canvas, spray paint, 48x48”, 2020.

See the work of Bristle and her fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Christine Flores

What’s the worst habit you have?

Doubting myself.

What keeps you awake at night?

Thinking about all of the projects I want to do. Accidentally ingesting too much caffeine.

What inspires your work?

The joys and tribulations of human experience, both big and small.

What is your art about?

Christine Flores explores ritual acts through drawing, sculpture, and performance. Her works are emotive and often embody moments of catharsis. Flores’ work is simultaneously personal and democratic in its representations of human emotion and behavior, illustrating events that can be both individually experienced and shared. Her use of everyday objects imparts relatability to her works, while quiet but intricate details invite close and intimate investigation. Themes that appear in her work include grief, loss, and death. Her series Hail Mary/Lessons on Grief consists of 100 individual ghostly drawings on paper rendered in graphite and correction fluid. The series is both a memorial to the dead and an exploration of the role of prayer in grieving.

Christine Flores was born in 1991 in Colorado Springs. She is currently studying at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs where she expects to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Visual and Performing Arts in May 2020. In 2017, Flores exhibited her first solo show Space: new works on paper at The Proof Gallery at LadyFingers Letterpress. Flores’ work was featured in The Modbo’s exhibitions Young Hot Sh*ts in 2017 and Rule Number 1 in 2018. She has exhibited in group exhibitions at Kreuser Gallery, The Machine Shop, and The Gallery Below. Flores was awarded the Pikes Peak Art Council’s Rising Star Award in 2018. She most recently exhibited her work in the group show Gratitude at Kresuer Gallery in February 2020.

@christinewiththehair

Christine Flores, Lesson #1 (part of Hail Mary/Lessons on Grief series); correction fluid and graphite on paper, 100 drawings: 5 ¾x5 ¾” each, overall dimensions: 59 ¾x59 ¾”, 2019-2020.

See the work of Floresr and her fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Artist Feature: Caroline Bodnar

What drew you to create art? How did you start creating art?

I was about six when I started drawing. At the time I was in love with horses and my parents got me a “how to draw” book of horses. I did not stick to drawing horses for long.

What passions outside of artmaking do you pursue?

I highly enjoy cooking and would love to one day become a chef. I also enjoy gardening, indoors and outside.

How tall are you? Do you wish to be shorter or taller?

I’m about 5’2, I like being short although I enjoy telling people I’m 7’4 when they ask how tall I am. I usually say ‘I just shrink heights around other people to make them feel better about their heights’ when they question my ‘height’.

What is your art about?

Caroline Bodnar primarily uses photographs to express her artistic way of experiencing the world. Her work is about her connections with nature and other people. She grew up being a military brat and always has found ways to connect with the surrounding wooded areas. Due to moving around about every two years, her connections with people are loose and confounding. Bodnar tries to make her work relatable to her viewers, letting them step into their own past experiences through her images, while also seeing hers. She strives to connect with her viewers, as she feels like there needs to be an urgency to connect with other people and the land that we all came from before. There is a disconnection with others in all parts of the world and Bodnar is trying to restore that connection. By sharing her experiences of her world, she is hoping that others will start sharing their worlds as well.

Caroline Bodnar was born in 1997 in Mountain Home, ID. In 2020 she received her Bachelor degree in Visual Arts at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Bodnar has been in the past show, “Grawlix”, at the Kreuser gallery in Colorado Springs, CO, in 2019, and will be included in the upcoming show, Apparition, at GOCO in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Bodnar currently lives and works in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her work deals with nature and human connections. Most of Bodnar’s work is made with photographs, she also dabbles with some 3-D sculptures.

Caroline Bodnar, Fragmented Thoughts, photography, 18 images each 13x19”, 2019.

See the work of Bodnar and her fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Artist Feature: Seth Edwards

Describe your artistic practice in five words or less.

Live life. Meanwhile, make art.

Does your work connect to an artistic movement or genre in the past? How so?

Definitely – all art does. My work connects strongly to Abstract Expressionism as I have a focus on interior life and experience, as well as an interest in the physicality of working with materials. I’m particularly fond of the Color Field painters, which becomes pretty obvious the moment you look at one of my paintings. I also find Conceptual Art essential to the development of Contemporary Art. Of course, all of these movements build on one another, and in the Information Age (or now arguably beyond), we’re all influenced, consciously or subconsciously, by just about every major art movement in history, as well as a plethora of other images.

What do you think happens when you die?

I think it’s different for everybody, and it depends on what you believe. But I think generally, we experience our own expectations of what death is like for a time, and then we continue to learn about existence in different realms, just like we learned to do living as a human. Maybe we inhabit new bodies, and maybe we don’t. However, contrasting with traditional views on reincarnation, I don’t believe we are just thrust into some new life due to karma or anything other force. I think we have choices to make about what kind of existences we want to have as we continue changing.

What is your art about?

Seth Edwards is fascinated by the ubiquity of pattern in the universe – from the scattering of stars to the cells that form our bodies, as well as intangible patterns such as thought and history. Generally, we define something in terms of something else, and so dissect the entire universe down to subatomic particles and generalizations. As the fragmentation of the universe continues to infinity in either direction of magnitude, Edwards is interested in exploring the various ways in which pattern manifests. Influenced by an interest in music and Eastern philosophy, he experiments primarily with color and line to create patterns in varying degrees of structure and order, reflecting the physicality and meta-physicality of the universe in unison, as well as certain aspects of personal and interior experience. Ultimately, Edwards’ work is an observation of the phenomenon of existence.

Seth Edwards was born in Colorado Springs in 1997. He currently attends the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, where he expects to earn his BA in Visual Arts in December 2020. Driven by an interest in music and Eastern philosophy, he utilizes line and color in pattern-based drawings and paintings to create images that reflect the physicality and meta-physicality of the universe alike, as well as certain aspects of personal and interior experience. In the Spring of 2020, Edwards’ work will be included in Apparition at GOCA Downtown in Colorado Springs, CO.

@sethedwards.art

Seth Edwards, Untitled (Spiral No. 1), Acrylic on canvas, 50.9x50.9”, 2019.

See the work of Edwards and his fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Artist Feature: Cheyenne Griswold

Do you have any recommendations for aspiring artists and other students?

Always create something you are interested in and/or love, even if it changes the experience is worth it. Document your work!

What is the biggest turning point in your career for your work(art)?

When I finally realized this was something I wanted to do and to show the world. To influence the world is the greatest honor we have while living and I want to live boldly.

What is something you want to explore in future works?

People, emotion, community and response. I always want to try more materials but the way people respond to my work and each other is what brings stars to my eyes.

What is your art about?

I am Proud is a collection of images about people expressing what they are proud to be. A work about identity and self-expression to connect to other people with different backgrounds. The work is comprised of a multitude of backgrounds, ethnicities, genders and positions in life that people can connect with. Through interview sessions these people open their hearts to the past and pull one word, identifying themselves that make them proud of who they are all encompassing. This process collects the faces with the stories of the past allowing people to connect to the history of a person without talking to the person they see. Disconnecting the person from the story opens up the viewer to placing themselves in the past of another. By relating to another person and their experiences allows room for discussion of familiars expanding the communities understanding of a diverse source of life.

Cheyenne Griswold was born in 1996 in Oklahoma. In 2020, she received her Bachelors in Visual and Performing Arts at University of Colorado - Colorado Springs. Griswold has already been included in various important exhibitions including Ascension at the University Center at University of Colorado - Colorado Springs and Array at GOCA Downtown in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Upcoming shows include Apparition at GOCA Downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. Griswold currently lives and works in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

@cheylion08

@CheyenneGriswo2

Cheyenne Griswold, I am Proud, photography, Dimensions variable, 2020.

See the work of Griswold and her fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Artist Feature: Nathalia Barud

Describe the process of making one of your works.

Before I start anything, I think about the message I want to transmit to others or the way I can portray how meaningful the artwork is for me. I like to have a sketchbook with me (I know, how cliché, but it works!) and draw the basic idea of what I want my sculptures to look like. Then I think in a more mathematical way and analyze the dimensions of the project—if I want it to be big, small, medium, to have a lot of space around it, on a pedestal, etc. Finally, I let my sketches guide me in bringing my sculpture to life.

Give yourself a compliment.

You have accomplished so much and put so much effort into the things you do. Even though your adventure is just starting, I know you will learn and grow so much from this experience.

What planet would you live on if you could?

Mars. I heard the sunsets there are blue, and that is such an intriguing situation to me. But maybe also Saturn, since I really like the rings around it.

What is your art about?

Energy, essence, and motion transform her inner experience. Through her artwork, Lia Barud actuates subtle levels of reciprocal movement in an organic way. She addresses the body, its complexity and fragility camouflaged by delicacy. Her fugacious creations infer consciousness, and the mystery of creating vitality. With a slow drain of motion, she incites the viewer to experience the vibrancy in the simple elegance of her sculptures. Such involvement enriches the value of her artwork.

Lia Barud was born and raised in Chihuahua, Mexico. In 2016 she moved to Colorado Springs where she attended the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. By 2021, she is planning on receiving her BA in Visual Arts. Lia will be included in the senior’s show Apparition at GOCA Downtown in Colorado Springs, CO. She currently lives and works in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

@lbarud

Lia Barud, Fizz, metal, 5’10”x18”, 2019.

See the work of Barud and her fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Artist Feature: Bryan Bachmann

What is your process and timeframe for creating your artwork?

First I sketch my drawing out on paper. Then I use a scanner to load the sketch onto my computer. Then I use my digital painting program to ink and color in the drawing, as well as add shading and other small details. A small drawing takes me up to 20-30 minutes, but a big drawing can take me more than an hour.

What inspires your work?

I was mainly inspired by various comic strip artists and animation studios, including Walt Disney Animation.

What is the ultimate goal of your art?

To reflect my life, to commentate on the world around us, and most of all, to entertain.

What is your art about?

I consider myself a cartoon artist. My parents always told me that I’ve been drawing ever since I first held a pencil in my hands. I see art as a way of expressing yourself and how you see, or even want to see, the world around you. In most of my works, the character I have named Craig the Crocodile represents myself, and all the other characters around him represent friends and the different kinds of people I have come across throughout my life. My art is usually colorful, cartoony, inviting, and eye-catching.

Bryan Bachmann was born in 1997 in San Antonio, TX. In 2020 he will receive a B.A. in Visual Art from University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Bachmann has been cartooning since childhood. His works will be shown in Apparition at the Gallery of Contemporary Art at UCCS. After the show and graduation, Bachmann will go on to create his own webcomic.

@CraigTheCroc

https://craigthecrocodile.com

https://www.deviantart.com/craigthecrocodile

Bryan Bachmann, Spectrum of Personalities, digital media, 7.73x10”, 2019.

See the work of Bachmannt and his fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Artist Feature: Elizabeth Schmidt

Describe the process of making one of your works.

This project first began by intentionally taking really bad pictures of myself. Then, using photoshop I overlaid two black and white portraits. I use chance in the blending of images, rather than trying to align the images just right. Next, I desaturated the overlaid black and white images to allow some of the natural colors to show through. This produces the ghostly colors of red and yellow. Lastly, the images are digitally printed.

Do you believe in ghosts’ (apparitions)?

Possibly? It sure would explain why my bathroom door randomly opens.

Early riser? Late nighter? Neither? Both?

I am definitely an early bird however you can find me awake (or asleep) at all hours of the day and night.

What is your art about? 

Elizabeth Schmidt is a mixed media 2D artist. She delves into identity, body, and personal relationships. Schmidt works primarily in photography before painting, drawing, and altering the printed images. Her current work explores “selfie” culture and our daily presentation of the self through the use of portraiture. She portrays the slippage of internal and external persona.

Elizabeth Schmidt was born and raised in Parker, Colorado. In 2020 she will receive her BA in Visual and Performing Arts and Psychology at University of Colorado Colorado Springs. She works primarily in photography and is interested in the various ways of altering her printed images. Schmidt has been included in the photography show Grawlix at the Kreuser Gallery, Colorado Springs, CO as well as being featured in Volume 46 and 47 of Riverrun. She currently lives and works in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Schmidt plans on continuing her artistic journey through graduate school, studying Art Therapy and Clinical Counseling in order to bring the healing power of art to children and teens.

@liz.u.schmidt

Elizabeth Schmidt, Bleed, analog photography and gouache, 5x7.5”, 2018.

See the work of Schmidt and her fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Artist Feature: Julia Mortenson

Do you believe in ghosts?

My mom and grandma have both seen ghosts. The house I lived in from birth to age 2 was supposedly haunted, although obviously I don’t remember it. So yes, I believe in ghosts, though I have yet to see one.

Are there references to Pop culture in your work? Why?

My art is informed by influences on my generation. There are subtle stylistic references to pop culture in this body of work and more deliberate ones in my other works, because I don’t believe there is anyone free of influence from their culture. American culture these days is pop culture. People attach themselves to styles and character that they relate to, and I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing (although many people take it way too far).

Is there a smell that you like that most people don't?

I love the smell of chlorine. As a kid I jumped at every opportunity to go swimming, even in tiny crowded hotel pools so saturated with chlorine that it made my skin peel. I still feel the urge to swim every time I smell it, even after 4 years as a swim teacher.

What is your art about? 

Julia is a painter and graphic artist who explores depth, seduction, and danger in her artworks. In her current works she is inspired by her job as a professional mermaid performer, and through her cartoonish stylized paintings, she explores the current human obsession with fantastical stories and mythical characters, and how far people will go to become something unreal. We learn to shut off our survival instincts in order to appeal to the audience behind the proverbial (or literal) glass, and pay the price behind the scenes. What is the cost of portraying an attractive myth?

Julia Mortenson was born in 1996 in Wyoming and has lived in Colorado for most of her life. She received her Associates of the Arts degree from Pikes Peak Community College and Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Arts at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Her art has been featured in the GOCA downtown Colorado Springs, and the ENT center for the arts.

@yorkshirereaper​

Julia Mortenson, Submerged Sublime 2 of 3, 18x24”, 2020.

See the work of Mortenson and her fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Artist Feature: Vincent Grego

What planet would you live on if you could?

I would live on Neptune, it’s often the furthest planet from Earth in our solar system.

Do you hike, ski, snowboard, or camp? How Coloradan are you?

I was born in Colorado, I do all four of those, and I own a Subaru. They call me Mr. Colorado.

Dream place to live on Earth?

I would live as a hermit in the San Juan Wilderness in Colorado.

What is your process and timeframe for creating your artwork?

When I make work, I set aside blocks of time where I can just focus on the creative process itself. After that time is up, I take a step back to evaluate what my piece looks like. This is the point where I might ask for feedback or critiques before I keep moving forward. Once I’ve established what is working and not working, I set aside another block of time to improve upon the piece and I repeat these steps until I reach a point where I think that my piece of art finally gets the message across that I was looking for. I don’t really have a timeframe for “ending” a body of work, I just keep on working on my art until I feel the need to send a new message, at which point I start fresh.

What is your art about? 

Vincent Grego uses photography and sculpture to address moments of reflection and isolation in a busy world. Drawing from projects created with 35mm film, digital photography, and wood, he attempts to move forward into a body of work that can combine themes of self- portraiture, place, and identity. Through the creation of an environment, Vincent’s audience can become immersed in a meditative moment. Aspects of sacred geometry such as the Golden Ratio can be seen throughout the various bodies of work coming from Vincent’s studio practice. Inspired by the works of Robert Adams and other photographers that make work to represent the in-between places where the natural world and the human world meet up, Vincent’s body of work strives to find the in-between states of our own minds and how they relate to the world around us. Through his art, Vincent hopes to answer questions relating to thoughts of self-image, reflection, how he imposes himself on the world, and how the world imposes itself on him.

Vincent Grego was born in southwestern Colorado. Here he found a fondness for the outdoors, art, and small communities. Despite periodically living in other parts of the United States as he grew up, such as Iowa City and Chicago, Vincent intends to stay primarily in Colorado. In 2016, Vincent enrolled in the Visual and Performing Arts program at UCCS in order to pursue the techniques and processes he couldn’t explore in his small, rural high school. Vincent has been featured in a few group shows thus far, including Array in the GOCA downtown space, Grawlix in the Kreuser Gallery, and the UCCS Art Club Annual Spring Showcases since joining the Art Club. During the Spring of 2020, he intends to be involved in a few more group shows. After graduation, Vincent intends to use his time to build a more comprehensive career as a working artist and photographer.

@vincentagrego

Vincent Grego, Bloodwood: Decay, wood, blood, paint, 42” x 21” x 21”, 2019-2020.

See the work of Grego and his fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Artist Feature: Ashley Andersen

How does your process change your relationship with materials?

This depends on my starting point with a specific piece. If I am starting with an idea then I will do research on what materials aid in communicating that idea, but often my inspiration for a piece begins with an intuitive attachment and curiosity with a specific material. Regardless, material is one of the primary motivations within my process.

What texture can you not stand?

I hate the feeling and sound of an uncovered  mattress…and microfiber when it sticks to your fingertips!  

How do your parents feel about you getting an art degree? I have been incredibly blessed to have been raised in a family that never discouraged my desire or pursuit of art. They always encouraged the way I saw the world and often were co-creators or co-problem solvers in the construction of my work. They have always been my support group.

What is my art about?

Ashley Andersen is an interdisciplinary artist whose work is motivated by the sensual ambiguity of the conversations around the issues of memory, histories, and our experiences. By examining the memory housed within materials through her site-specific installations she opens a dialogue between the present and the ignored or forgotten past. These immersive experiences respond poetically to the presence of abandoned domestic sites, while her objects encourage introspection. Within her work she aims to make the viewer feel more human by giving them objects, encounters, or images of scenes where they are presented with elements of the familiar juxtaposed with the strange. Such experiences can enhance the amorphous territory that occurs within a memory or affective happening. It is in that place that we navigate within our senses.

Ashley Andersen lives and works in Colorado Springs. In 2017 she transferred to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs where she received the Suzy Weinert Scholarship, and the Haris Scholarship in consecutive years. She was exhibited in Colorado’s Statewide Artists Showcase in 2019 where she was named the top Emerging Artist and was awarded the Best of Show for emerging talent.

@ashley.andersen.studio | www.ashleyandersenstudio.com

Ashley Andersen, a dreamful wakeness, bedsheets, 66x96x72”, 2020.

See the work of Andersen and her fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Artist Feature: Emily Osur

What is your process and timeframe for creating your artwork?

As a photographer and sculpture, I first find the medium I want to work on and obtain it. Staring at it, I contemplate and overthink the possibilities. Finally I will get to a point where I can visualize what I am feeling through that medium and then I get to work. As far as a timeframe, well, it depends on how quickly I stop overthinking and just let the answer come to me.

What drew you to create art? How did you start creating art?

As a veteran, I struggle with depression, anxiety and PTSD. I never thought art was my path to relieving some of my struggles. Early in my college years, I took a pottery class as an elective while I was obtaining my business degree. I was drawn to the whole experience of creating something with my hands in an artistic way. I would go there outside of class just to throw clay on the wheel. It changed my whole direction in what I wanted to do with my life.

Do you prefer your caffeine hot or cold?

Cold and carbonated.

What is your art about?

Redefining how women are represented through alternative and traditional photography, Emily Osur emphasizes the power of the body. Objectified and subjected to the gaze, the female form is often represented through the male eye. This promotes an unrealistic perspective of how women are seen and not heard. Osur is changing the narrative of what women represent, putting the power back into the woman’s hands. Through this passionate work, the sensory experience of women’s empowerment is made manifest.

Emily Osur was born in 1983 in Anchorage, Alaska. Osur currently lives and works in Colorado Springs, CO. Growing up with a sister and no brothers, she learned through her father that no job or task was gender specific. More or less an artist himself, he taught her how to build and create. Her work is focused around the human body; specifically the objectification, sexualization and the empowerment of the female body. Osur primarily works with traditional and alternative photography. She will receive her Visual Arts degree at University of Colorado, Colorado Springs in the spring of 2020. Osur was previously involved in a past show, “Grawlix” at Kreuser Gallery, Colorado Springs, CO in 2019 and will be involved in the exhibition, Apparition at GOCA in Colorado Springs, CO in 2020.

@emilyrose_photographer

Emily Osur, Objectified #3, 17x 22”, 2019.

See the work of Osur and her fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Artist Feature: Jennifer Marquez

How does your process change your relationship with materials?

I’ve come to realize that the process shows you the truth of a material. You could picture the way you will want to use a material but if the material does not want to conform then you can not make it conform. The process of making teaches me about the materials boundaries and possibilities.

Dream place to live on Earth?

My dream place to live on Earth would be Tokyo, Japan. I love Japanese architecture, food, language, art, entertainment, you name it!

What was your favorite age to be?

My favorite age to be was 10 years old. I was in the 5th grade, care, responsibility, and student loan free.

What is your art about?

Influenced by sociologist Erving Goffman’s term “dramaturgy,” Marquez is intrigued by the way in which humans choose to construct their identity for the public versus who are in private. She uses fabric and yarn, materials often associated with crafts and textiles, to materialize the “self.” Marquez uses yarn with subtle hues, primarily on the outer layer, stretching it to cause tension and a rigidity. She implies that our public identity is always under tension due to our fears of being misrepresented. Marquez then uses fabrics of different textures, colors, and patterns in the inner part of her installation alluding to the complexity of our inner identity. Through the use of both soft materials she implies that although there might be a dichotomy in the way we represent ourselves, these two identities are interconnected.

Jennifer Marquez is a Mexican-American artist, born in Colorado in 1997. Marquez first exhibited her piece Shattered at Raw, a student-curated exhibition held at the Aspen Art Museum in 2015 before graduating high school that spring. Marquez enrolled at the University of Colorado- Colorado Springs in the fall of 2015, where she will major in Visual and Performing Arts, concentrating on Studio Art. During her time there she has received the University Center Village (UCV) grant, allowing her to design, create, and permanently place her sculpture, Thrive, at the UCV. Marquez will keep pursuing art opportunities as her endeavors continue.

@marquez_art

Jennifer Marquez, Two/Dos , fabric, yarn, 36x 66”, 2020.

See the work of Marquez and her fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[gocacolospgs]

Artist Feature: Brooke Koster

What drew you to create art? How did you start creating art? Nature was one of the main things that drew me to create art, I have always loved being in nature and intrigued with the beauty of the wilderness. I began creating art at a young age, like everyone, but it became my passion as I grew older and adventured into sculpture and mixed media.

Describe yourself in five or less words. Creative, Adventurous, Competitive, Passionate, and Intuitive.  

What was your favorite age to be? My favorite age to be was between 2 and 5 because napping was acceptable and at 24 it’s not any more.

What is your art about?

In my sculptural practice I am drawn to intrinsic objects found in the wilderness, such as fallen trees, broken branches, wandering driftwood. I experience a disconnect with nature while living in a built environment. I continuously attempt to be physically and metaphorically “in touch with nature” in both life and my art. Through careful attention to detail and responding to the innate characteristics of my materials, I seek harmony between these features and my interaction with it. In my practice there is a repetitive and meditative quality compared to traditional craft techniques. My desire for a connection to nature translates to the viewer as a shared affirmation of the object and the beautification of these materials.

Brooke Koster was born in 1995 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Brooke Koster is a multimedia artist who is soon to graduate from UCCS in Colorado Springs, Colorado where she is planning on earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual and Performing Arts with a minor in Psychology. She has exhibited her work in a couple galleries in Colorado and has won awards and grants in recent years. Through her years in college she has experimented with several mediums such as clay, ceramic, wood, metal (welding), plaster, paint, fabric, glass, etc.. Brooke has also dabbled in public art and installation art, but her true passion is sculpture in any setting (public or gallery). She currently lives and works in Colorado Springs as a barista at Starbucks while continuing her practice in art and sculpture.  

@brooke.koster.art

Brooke Koster, Bound, wood, yarn, metal, 42x55”, 2019.

See the work of Koster and her fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[gocacolospgs]

Artist Feature: Jem Brock

Favorite class you have taken?

My favorite class that I took while at UCCS was Corey Drieth’s Art & Spirituality class. I wouldn’t be making the work I am today without Corey’s mentorship, and the research he pointed me towards in that class specifically. Taking it was a turning point in my career that led me to where I am now, and showed that the things I cared about making mattered.

Do you believe in monsters?

I’m actually very interested in monstrosity, especially in relation to feminist abjection in contemporary art and horror theory, and how it relates to mysticism. I’ve been working on a book about the mystical monstrous-feminine in contemporary art for almost a year now. So, while maybe monsters don’t physically exist (though I’m wary of dismissing the idea outright), I absolutely believe in the power of the monstrous, what monsters represent in society and how they can influence us.

What is the most dangerous thing you have done for your art?

I’ve bled plenty for my art. There is always a mason jar of my own blood in my refrigerator, which in the past I’ve used for dying fiber sculptures and in puddles on the floor of installations. However, the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done was probably a performance piece where I hand-tied a net the same dimensions as my esophagus, then swallowed it little by little until on the very end was left in my mouth, and then I pulled it back up out of my throat. Like all my body pieces, the performance was about abjection, catharsis, and the liminal boundaries of the body. My professor gave me a real good talking to about how I “could have died” but like whatever, I was fine. Didn’t even puke (though it would have been awesome if I did).

What is your art about?

Jem Brock’s work focuses on spirituality by addressing the ritualization of repetitive action. Appropriating stories from religion and mythology, they utilize the calligraphic mark in their drawing practice to emphasize storytelling as a method of understanding humanity’s place in the universe. In their sculptural practice, they affirm the role of the body in ritual through hands-on manipulation of utilitarian materials. Their pieces explore themes such as beauty, truth, ancestry, and the presence of light and space.

Jem Brock was born and raised in central Illinois before relocating to Colorado, where they attended the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs to pursue a B.A. in Visual Arts and Art History. While working on their undergraduate degree, they served as Co-President of the UCCS Art Club, the Visual Arts Student Representative in the Visual & Performing Arts Department Chair’s Council, and as Student Advisor at GOCA-Galleries of Contemporary Art. They have exhibited in various locations, including White Trash Gallery in La Salle, IL, The Dock in Colorado Springs, CO, and The Modbo in Colorado Springs, CO. In addition to their visual arts practice, they are also active in the spoken word poetry community, and performed in 2019 at TEDxColorado Springs: Frontiers.

@jem.artist | jemmakesstuff.com

Jem Brock, Circle (the Big Bang), gold calligraphy ink on black paper, 8x9”, 2019.

See the work of Brock and their fellow UCCS VAPA Seniors by following their virtual exhibition Apparition. To be featured @vauccs April through May 2020, along with many other student exhibitions that have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.