Tell me about your senior project. 

My senior project is still a work in progress. It's kind of hard to find a specific title or theme for it. I'm planning on diving more into going based off of my art name, which is Yamas Den. Yama is the Hindu God of death, and then in Yamas Den was kind of a loose translation of “in death’s den.” So kind of going off of something like that. I really like to incorporate somber color palettes, animals, dried flowers. The process of decomposing in a sense, but nothing entirely concrete. It's kind of hard to put it into words, but I think I'm going to focus on the figure, telling a narrative, having a field, more gallery focused, and just seeing how much I can really dive into like my own aesthetic, I guess. 

Is this an aesthetic that you've always had? 

Yes, but it really kicked off when I started school. Before I started school I always really liked that kind of thing and I thought “I’ll have to get into it someday.” And then freshman year, over winter break, something clicked and I started doing oil paintings more. Painting is my forte. It's my one true love. I do a lot of pen and ink, but on the side, if I need to get ideas out fast. I've always been interested in figure portraiture and then putting my own spin on it, but it's been growing ever since. 

How far do you think you've come since the beginning of your college experience?

It's funny because I've made a lot more personal developments than I have with my work. I've always kind of struggled because my major is illustration, but my minor is fine art because my work teeters in the middle. I like using the techniques of illustration, [but composing something] using the techniques of fine art. My [illustration] work has definitely gotten stronger but it's never my favorite.

But, personally, I think about a year ago, I decided to quit my retail job and do my artwork full-time. So I've been supporting myself off of my artwork for almost a year now. I've done market events, and I sell my work in some shops wholesale. I think personally I decided “Okay, I don't know what the future is going to be like, and I want to make sure I'm doing something with my artwork now instead of scrambling to figure something out when I'm done with school.” 

That's been more of an accomplishment for me than my schoolwork. But I would definitely use my school assignments and projects to work on refining my compositions, learning how to pick my own pieces apart so it can be better for next time.

 What types of art do you sell? 

I sell a lot of prints, because there's definitely more of a market for that. As much as I love my oil paintings, people really like black and white ink drawings so I do a lot of that. I have little original pieces - little tiny frame prints, little coffin boxes that I paint, and then I recently started making pins. I'm trying to get into more grabby stuff instead of just prints. I obviously haven't done that in a bit because of the pandemic and I really, really miss it. Let's hope that things get better, like for underclassmen next year, because I know that the school does Art Attack and that's really cool. 

Is the type of work that you're selling right now what you hope to do once you graduate? 

Oh yeah, for sure. I definitely want to keep going. My art is unpredictable. It's always changing. That's the cool thing. I don't want to pigeonhole myself. I just kinda want to keep developing ideas and see what markets and communities are there for me. Instagram has like been a huge asset with figuring out different markets that my work applies to and other makers and artists that become working partners, you know? 

What artists have inspired you? 

I look at a lot of photographers. Even though I'm not a photographer, I use photography as my reference. Especially when I'm doing a figure painting. If I find a good reference that's the center of my whole piece, I kind of work off of that. I like to take in everything. I have a little mug from one of my ceramic artist friends. I go through anything - printmakers, photographers, embroidery people, everything. You really have to be open to it because you really don't know what inspiration you'll get from it, even if it's in a completely different medium from what you work in. So I try to look at a little bit of everything. 

 In your work, how would you characterize your voice as an artist? 

There's a lot of stuff that comes across subconsciously. I like contrasting beautiful things, like a figure against something decaying like pressed flowers or exposed bones. At a few of my markets, I have some of my smaller paintings as prints, [paintings of] harpies and animals with exposed bones. 

I was talking to someone earlier and I mentioned how I've been vegan. And they said “do you think that that comes across in your work?” And I was like, “Oh.” I never realized but it came to me, and it makes sense because it is something I'm passionate about. I think along the way, I have made some sort of statement about animals and humans and that relationship and how we treat animals. But it was never meant to be the main cause [in my work]. I found it along the way. My paintings and my artwork have really helped me through some hard times, so I do find myself getting very attached to them. I think I just really like capturing very delicate, but macabre images and just setting the mood. Like you feel like you're there and you're feeling the figure in the space that it's in. 

So veganism isn't something that you're trying to push with your artwork. Is there something that you are trying to push with your artwork?

Kind of going back to beautiful things with decaying things, there’s balancing dark and light. Making people feel drawn to the picture because it's a beautiful figure, but then realizing that there's a darker side to it. I guess you could say it's probably talking about battling inner demons or something like that, but that was never really my intention. I just really like surrounding myself in a specific mood or environment, certain color palettes, senses. Fall is one of my favorite seasons, the way it makes me feel, so even pouring a little bit of that into it. Something that I've always been drawn to is Memento Mori, which is remembering death and that life is very, very fragile. So having really fragile moments like birds with exposed bones or a figure, but there's something kind of off about it. That's like the depth part. So if anything, I think that’s the strongest saying that goes with my work. Life is very precious, it's a blessing to wake up every moment. So it's important to remember how fragile things are. 

How do you have your studio set up?

I live at home, I'm a commuter. I do have my own studio in the other room, (indicates the door) which is an absolute mess right now because it's also the hub for my mom so it's kind of a mess, but I do also have my senior studio in Roger Williams, which I'm going to utilize for my bigger paintings, because I don't have a good easel at my house. [At home] I sit on my floor and kill my back working on big pieces. But I do work from home mostly, that's where I feel the most safe. It's really hard for me to do a piece from start to finish in a school environment. I just feel too much pressure. Especially with this year and how everything's going, I'm kinda working from home the most and if I really need to work on a piece in class, I'm going to utilize my senior studio.

How do you feel that the community here has impacted your work? 

I'm going to be honest, I don't really talk to a lot of people at school. I have a small group of friends and our work is all extremely different, and it's so different that I can't fully relate to it. So as much as I appreciate group critiques from friends, I felt I really needed to find my own thing because it's a little bit better to not always have to explain what you're trying to convey in your work. I loved being in a group setting, having big critiques, and having that feedback. I got a lot of helpful advice from all my teachers, I'm definitely thankful for them. But for me I felt I know what I'm going for, I just need to go find it. I just did it for myself because I didn't want to have to wait until I graduate. Maybe I'm a little bit lost to start this, but I'm going to do it now. So I have at least something going, even if it's more of an illustration career. Then maybe in the future, I can do something with my fine art. Stuff is ever changing and obviously industries are always changing and the world is changing. So it was nice to have something going, because if I was still working my retail job and the pandemic happened, I would have been screwed because I didn't have my art to back me up. I feel like nothing should hold people back. I feel like people put themselves on a pause while they're in school because obviously the schoolwork is important and finding your style is important, but also work on it now. Don't wait because that’s when people get the most lost and then they’re thrown into the world. Have an idea of how the world is going to treat you first and then start to build your own thing and it doesn't always have to be the same. You can come out completely different and that's totally fine, but start to market yourself as early as possible. Then you won't feel like you're just doing art on the side. It should be like your full thing. I really believe that people should pursue that even if it's risky - just try it and see where it goes.

 What advice would you give to underclassmen? 

Honestly, I would really stress just trying to develop work that makes you happy whether it's personal work or putting your own twist on assignments. That has really been a little hack that helps me to see it as “Okay. I'm not just doing this as a chore. It's something I also enjoy and can add to my portfolio.” So, if you can sneak it in there your teachers will probably love it and you'll love it too. You'll feel a lot better about it. Also staying organized is like a huge thing. And just start to find your market. Don't try to be like, “I want to go find a gallery to work for or an animation studio to work for.” That'll come after. find the people first because the people will get you there. So don't be like “Yeah, I'm going to apply to Disney once I'm out of school,” say, “Oh, I'm going to talk to so-and-so and all these other people who will probably eventually get me to Disney.” Because networking is such a huge thing. And it's about 90% of being an artist. So I would say find your people first and then everything else will fall into place. It really will.