A VIRTUAL GALLERY
Featuring WORKS BY
Benjamin Jaramillo Nicholson & Arianna Tweedy
Meet the Artists at a
Socially distanced, Open-Air Reception
Saturday, July 25, 2020
from 5:30 to 7:00pm
@ Driftless Historium
100 S 2nd St, Mt Horeb, WI . (608) 437-6486
ARTISTS' STATEMENTS
Arianna Tweedy
I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t want to make art. It was always my favorite subject in school but it wasn't until around fifth grade that I considered that art could be something I wanted to pursue as a career. My focus has shifted over the years but today at 16, I’m more passionate about creating than ever and I only see myself continuing to grow as an artist in the future. While the majority of my artworks in this collection are acrylic paintings, I love to experiment with other mediums. Ceramics, colored pencils and watercolor are some of my favorites to work with. Recently, I have been trying new techniques with digital art. I’ve had a great time with it so far and plan on doing much more in the future. As for process, I rarely if ever, plan out what I want the final piece to look like. I prefer to allow my ideas to develop as I go. I’ve found not holding myself to a particular idea lets me experiment without the pressure of having the pieces turn out exactly how I intended. Oftentimes, I couldn’t care less how a piece turns out as long as I have fun making it. When creating, I lean towards a relaxed and impressionistic approach. I have difficulty working for long stretches at a time without losing focus and as a result, I tend to work very quickly. I like using big, bold strokes and colors and try not to fuss over small imperfections. One goal I’m working towards is being able to achieve a greater level of detail and accuracy while maintaining my loose and colorful style. |
My name is Benjamin Jaramillo Nicholson. I am a (newly) seventeen year old student who has just graduated from Mount Horeb High and am going on to the University of Oregon to pursue degrees in Art and Art History. Art has been a large part of my life from a very young age, but only very recently I began working with the medium of printmaking. At this time, my print work is largely a reflection of my own experiences and morals with an emphasis on social issues— such as issues revolving around the LGBTQ+ community— which you will see quite clearly in many of my pieces.
For this particular exhibition, I wanted to focus solely on pieces that dealt with my transition and experience as a transgender individual. Through this narrow scope, I hoped to provide an artistic representation of my personal journey and how I feel about my own personal changes as I grew into the person that I feel as though I am meant to be. Even outside of this show, printmaking is by far my preferred method of creating art; the ability to step outside of the whole picture and instead focus on each little part that comes together to create the entire piece brings a very grounded and contemplative feeling to the process. Although normally for my work, the method of creation is not typically symbolic, but this time it happens to be so. The utilization of the linoleum block printing method is complementary to the nature of change. Turning a smooth block of linoleum into a piece of art is the product of many small changes, much like my personal transition from female to male. Transformative changes rarely happen in one fell swoop; it takes time, often more time than is wanted or needed, for change to come around. From the physical process that turns pure carbon into diamond, to the ongoing fight to enact the necessary changes to our broken system that would allow for truly equal rights to be given to black folk in America, change takes time—albeit a long time— to create something truly beautiful. |
For more information about "Transformation + Reflection,"
visit the Upcoming Events page here: http://www.mthorebhistory.org/upcoming-events.html
Read more about Student Spotlight, a initiative of the Mount Horeb Area Historical Society
in partnership with the Mount Horeb High School Art Department,
here: http://www.mthorebhistory.org/student-spotlight.html.
Would you or someone your know be interested in throwing your artistic hat in the ring for 2021's Student Spotlight?
Applications will be released on or before January 31, with a March 15 deadline.
visit the Upcoming Events page here: http://www.mthorebhistory.org/upcoming-events.html
Read more about Student Spotlight, a initiative of the Mount Horeb Area Historical Society
in partnership with the Mount Horeb High School Art Department,
here: http://www.mthorebhistory.org/student-spotlight.html.
Would you or someone your know be interested in throwing your artistic hat in the ring for 2021's Student Spotlight?
Applications will be released on or before January 31, with a March 15 deadline.