The Studio Art Mag No. 1

Cover Photo: Evan Edwards

The Studio: Art Mag

We hope you enjoy the inaugural issue of The Studio's very own art magazine!

Made possible by tremendous contributions from: Akhilesh Peddi

Ammo Eisu

Arista Ranka

Isaac Fuentes

Sammy Dyrud and by all of our artists who made themselves vulnerable enough to share their art.

Big thanks to The Studio Support Team (Prof. Helen Lee, Ammo Eisu, Carly de la Masa, Kai Brown, Ahema Odeng-Otu, Sammy Dyrud, Shayfer Huitt, Teja Davis), Erin McAdams, Miles Sierra, and ALL of our amazing residents of The Studio, past, present, and future.

Ahema is a second-year student at UWMadison. She is a graphic design major, illustrator, and a First Wave Scholar, 15th cohort. Her favorite mediums are pen/pencil, Adobe Illustrator/Fresco, and most recently watercolor. She loves vibrant colors and using art to design characters and to talk about philosophy and Africa. Focusing mostly on portraiture, Ahema started studying drawing seriously in 2020. Ahema made this piece the Easter she lived in The Studio! "I really like the subject matter as well as the little comic I put on the side." Follow her progress on Instagram @iiipadkid where she posts digital portraits and sketches.

sheel gupta (he/him)

Sheel is a first-year vocal major on a Pre-Med track. He was introduced to singing in his sophomore year of high school when he tried participating in show choirs. In his senior year, he was cast as the lead role in a musical. That experience would change his life, as his passion for music blossomed. Sheel speaks about how meaningful his high school voice teacher and choir director became to him: “She used to give me voice lessons for free. She saw that I was committed, and she didn’t ask for any money. She just did it out of the goodness of her heart.” In part because of that teacher’s dedication, Sheel would continue to pursue music and musical theater.

Sheel performed in The Studio’s Showcase #3 along with fellow Studio resident Sandrine Biagui. Together they sung “Suddenly Seymore” from the cult classic Little ShopofHorrors. Their number told a story of trauma and consolation. The story revolves around a woman who is suffering from a fresh heart-break and a man who is steadfast in his desire to comfort her and give hope where there is little.

Sheel continues to create music and participate in musical theater narratives, which address various social problems and promote art appreciation. Sheel would also like to explore Indian classical music during his time at UW-Madison.

From Brooklyn, Wisconsin, Aiden has not yet decided on a major as his set of interests span from folklore to computer science to, of course, multimedia art. Aiden began his art journey in 5th grade with Crayola markers and white cardstock. His pursuit for greater art knowledge was spurred on by the spite he felt when he was discouraged by his art teacher. "I remember very specifically being told by my art teacher that I will never make it anywhere with art, and that was why I started doing it.”

Art has become a meditative experience for Aiden. Through his creation process, he tries to express his ideas and emotions.

His three pieces portray two main ideas— the inexhaustible presence of chaos in life and the distinction between the Sun and the Moon. Sol and Luna are sculptures of two rabbits inspired from a tale told by Aiden’s grandmother and by the mythology of rabbits. Aiden found the rabbit sculptures and then used his meticulous process of mark-making to cover the sculptures in his art. One of the rabbits, Sol, is draped in hundreds of gold, black, and red fine lines, creating a chaotic pattern. The goal was to use the juxtaposition of black with metallic gold to create intense chaotic imagery, symbolizing the sun. “You cannot look at the sun without it being painful,” Aiden says.

The other rabbit, Luna, is a more subtle creation with the same gold and black colors but softer on the eyes and less chaotic. “For every chaos, there must be order and for every order, there must be chaos. There is order in Sol and chaos in Luna. The Universe is inertly chaotic.”

Sunlight is another piece of his completed over the span of a year. It holds the same distinctive design of Sol having a black background with gold and red lines stretching across it. It records the events of the past year, with distinct highs and lows. In addition to experiencing a lot of joy in the recent past, Aiden also expresses somberness in the piecea heaviness that stemmed from the artist’s grief from the loss of family members. “Everything that was part of my life this past year became [Sunlight].”

Aiden is in the process of working on a companion piece to Sunlight.

bridget brenner (any pronouns)

Bridget is a poet and visual artist primarily interested in exploring addiction, grief, and queerness through her art. They are a first-year student intending to major in Applied Mathematics, Engineering and Physics. Through her poetry, which is her main art form, she wishes to convey to the world that despite the suffering and cruelty one can face in life, one can still actively choose kindness and forgiveness. “It is always a decision to love the world and to let yourself be happy,” they explain.

Her poems, containing both melancholy and joy, often end with a glint of hope. That hope is sometimes only perceptible in the “aftermath.”

Bridget was first introduced to reading in their elementary and middle school through the accelerated reading program. It is a program which awards extra points for each book a student reads. “Usually people set to achieve 20 points. If you were really good, then it’s in the 50s. I started with 500, and then I increased it by 50 points every quarter until it was 600 points every quarter. I was reading a book a day.” After becoming an avid reader, Bridget would be inspired to write their own material.

Bridget wishes to continue sharing her philosophy that, although difficult, to love the world is a choice, and also one of the few ways, she believes, one can let oneself be happy.

Evan is a photog interested in both digital photography and film photography. His art work primarily consists of color and black and white film photography. It was in a vintage camera market where Evan’s fascination with film began. He bought a few older cameras and began to use them. “I love the tangibility of [film photography], and the fact that I need to put thought into each shot because film is a limited resource.”

His pieces include a lady on a street, a traffic light, and two men cleaning graffiti off a wall. His work usually depicts street photography, capturing people doing everyday activities.

Evan wishes to continue shooting photos and refining his photography skills.

natalie furtado (she/her)

Natalie is a multimedia artist from Las Vegas, Nevada, who found herself in an art class, by happenstance. “I guess it goes back to middle school - I was placed in the choir class and didn’t want to take it because of a fellow classmate there. The only other option was art class.” In that art class, she would find something she could not let go. She continues to use art as an outlet of her emotions and as a way to honor certain family members who are artists and can no longer produce art.

These pieces include work done in the past year, during her time in The Studio. As a first-year student adjusting to Wisconsin, the cheese capitol, she found humor in painting Cow - which explores the relationship between humans and animals as it relates to consumption.

Lauren Jarentowski (she/her)

Lauren is a first-year student intending to major in Fine Art. She is interested in multiple art forms including graphic design, photography, fashion, creative writing, storytelling, resin sculpture, painting, and drawing. She began creating art as early as elementary school. “Art class was my favorite. I found an interest in my current mediums by exploring all of my options.”

Sea Monster is a narrative artwork, Lauren’s favorite type of creation. “It goes far beyond technique and focuses on concept and dynamics. The background has to interact with the scene and characters or subjects for a painting to feel complete and truly deliver a story.” Through her paining, Lauren tries to evoke unique responses, depending on the viewer. The sea can be an image of fear or of empowerment - its power perceived differently through different lenses and emotions. The sea monster can be a villain or a hero. “I want viewers to ask questions or explore all the different possibilities behind both the process and the product.”

Blue Mountains is Lauren’s experimental piece, made with pen. “This was a very challenging process that involved many hand cramps, but once I got the gist of it down, it turned out to be quite a fun project to work on.” It became a relaxing process - one where she could play with stroke, pattern, and shade. Van Gogh’s The Starry Night was used as inspiration for the sky. The log cabin was added half-way towards the piece’s completion. Lauren wanted to show her interest in living in such an environment.

City is a piece Lauren began working on during her introduction to graphic design. “At the time, I was fairly new to graphic design. This project was to help me learn all of the Photoshop tools and familiarize myself.” Although she started the piece as a teaching tool, she would end up putting a lot of time and effort into City. In it, she takes a different approach, using black and white rather than her usual vibrant palette of colors. The setting of the piece is New York City which Lauren has visited many times and is quite fond of.

Jaden nhan (he/Him)

Born in Chicago, Jaden is a first-year student, majoring in graphic design with a special interest in game design. He is primarily interested in designing characters using digital media although he has also experimented with charcoal drawings. He derives his passion for digital art and game design from video games. “Video games have shaped me as they [have shaped] many people. I used to play a lot of games as a child, and I still do.”

The coffin was initially inspired by the artist’s 3D Art class. It was created in collaboration with classmates Miriam Hayes, Sol Eklund, Leo Frasetto, and Livi Marth. Created using only four materials - cardboard, hot glue, duct tape, and paint - the coffin chair exemplifies how complex designs can be created through minimalistic use of materials. Painted in red and black with silver spikes, the coffin also incorporates hot glue as a sculptural medium. “I realized that hot glue had a stringing effect, which if you did quick moments with it, you could create patterns which emulate cob-webs,” Jaden explains. The coffin is currently on display in Ogg Hall’s Gallery 0GG, located in the Residence Life Office, and is open to anyone interested in seeing it.

Zach Johnson (he/him)

Zach is a first-year student and electric guitarist. He uses the guitar as an instrument to give life to melodies that are created in his mind. “I always had lots of m ade-up melodies playing around in my head, and I wanted a way to realize them.”

Along with other UW students, Zach has formed a band and is interested in playing at house shows soon. He likes to the collaborative nature of song writing as a way of making meaningful relationships. “Ultimately, all we really want to do is play music with our friends and have fun. Maybe when we make more original pieces, we'll have some things to say with the lyrics, but right now, we're really just playing music for its own sake.”

He has experimented with other instruments such as the saxophone and the cello, but his passion remains with the electric guitar. In his free time, he enjoys drawing, but with a limited interest.

Over the summer, Zach wishes to continue jamming and make sure that music remains an important component of his life, while building relationships and meaningful memories.

Kathryn Brzozowski (She/Her)

Kathryn is a first-year student who is interested in becoming a genetic researcher someday. Her digital art pieces primarily include fan art and character work. “I like to study anatomy and posing, and I am always trying to improve dynamic poses and movement of my pieces.”

She was first introduced to art in her school’s computer lab when she was around six years old. She became fascinated with drawing on the computer using a mouse.

When she entered 5th grade, her father, who encouraged her art practice, purchased an iPad for her. Digital drawing would turn into a lifelong passion. Katherine used digital art as a medium to recreate scenes and characters from her favorite video games.

This piece is inspired from the game ‘Kingdom Hearts’ which she played during the height of the Covid pandemic. “During Covid [Kingdom Hearts] was my pastime. I would just like deep dive into the Kingdom Hearts lore.” S he became fond of the character Sora, the main protagonist, who is depicted in her piece.

Lana Fabish (any pronouns)

Lana is a first-year visual and performing artist whose main interests are singing and music. Some of her earliest memories include signing in the corridor with her childhood best friend. “I have always loved to sing and always saw myself making noise in the world.”

Lana has been singing for over a decade and has found music to be an effective and vibrant mode of expression. “I have always found art to be best for communicating and found a lot of friends and community.”

Lana hopes to perform in our final Showcase of the year, bringing to the stage their favorite jazz tune, “Misty,” which has been recorded by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Ray Stevens. “It is such a beautiful song. It is all about 'I am so in love with you that I become misty.' ”

Lana finds the song interesting for its vocal technique, jazz essence, and chromatics. They wish to continue pursuing music during their time at the UW-Madison.

kennedy webb (she/her)

Kennedy is a first-year student passionate about creating “physical, tangible” art, including paintings, sculptures and mixed media pieces. “It is like a memory that you can keep,” she reflects. Her art often contains nods to the grotesque and the silly - a deliberate product of her intention to make art that subverts normative definitions of beauty. “[Art] is whatever you want it to be.”

Her interest in art began from a young age when she was introduced to it as a play thing. “You have girls who are girls, and you give them Barbie dolls. You have girls who are very boyish, and you buy them legos, and you have those girls in between with whom you don’t know what to do, and so you buy them art supplies.”

Her main art passion is sculpture, which she creates from everyday objects. This robot was made from a disposable camera, which she reimagined to have an arm holding a pencil, altering our general notions of visual representation.“I looked at it, and I thought I should make something out of it. It is going to be my little friend, and it is going to be so happy.”

She continues to create art through examining her introspective thoughts and emotions about nature - both the natural world and human nature. Kennedy also enjoys writing poetry that addresses various social issues, such as obligations imposed by perceived gender roles in relationships.

lucy stebbins (she/her)

Lucy is a woman in PHLEGM (Philosophy, History, Literature, English, Geography, and Music).

She is majoring in History and has been considering adding a minor in Classics or Art History. She is a visual artist interested in multimedia art and painting, using media ranging from oil paints to watercolors.

Her interest in art began through pettiness. Fueled by a persistent feud with a classmate who thought she was better than Lucy at everything, Lucy’s desire to prove herself resulted in a passion for the arts. She began learning about art through peers, while also watching and following art tutorials. “I did all of this, so I could prove that I could be better than her in something. Over time, [the classmate] went to a different school, and because I made art so often, it became something I am genuinely interested in doing.”

TheVulnerabilityofanOrange is a series of two drawings made exactly a year apart from each other. The bulk of the drawings were made with ink while the oranges were created with paint pens. In the first piece, a woman offers an orange to another, and in the second, they have peeled the orange. The act has drawn them closer.

Oranges are Lucy’s favorite fruits. The series of drawings were inspired from poetry about the act of peeling and sharing an orange with a loved one.

Payton Fuller (she/her)

Welcome To The Hive, a community project initiated by Kennedy Webb. Accompanying digital drawings also by Kennedy.

Thanks for a wonderful year, Scholars!