Artist Bios+Statements
(alphabetical)
Stephanie Baer:
As a photographer, I find myself noticing the shapes, light, and stillness in single moments and how those moments, when captured, can echo with meaning. There are so many opportunities that pass us by - that we walk or run by - or just simply ignore, that could offer a sense of gratitude and peace. I am interested in finding peace and feeling gratitude as much as I can. The photos that I can sit in front of and consider over and over, are the ones that allow my soul to settle and my mind to wander freely. This particular moment, when a 2-year-old friend of mine gently sat down and placed her hand on my daughter's back, reminded me how we all care for one another and that we were made to do this. We can empower and be empowered by individuals of all ages, sizes, shapes, and backgrounds. It is our compassion that draws us together and invites us to gently place our hands on one another leading us onward.
As a photographer, I find myself noticing the shapes, light, and stillness in single moments and how those moments, when captured, can echo with meaning. There are so many opportunities that pass us by - that we walk or run by - or just simply ignore, that could offer a sense of gratitude and peace. I am interested in finding peace and feeling gratitude as much as I can. The photos that I can sit in front of and consider over and over, are the ones that allow my soul to settle and my mind to wander freely. This particular moment, when a 2-year-old friend of mine gently sat down and placed her hand on my daughter's back, reminded me how we all care for one another and that we were made to do this. We can empower and be empowered by individuals of all ages, sizes, shapes, and backgrounds. It is our compassion that draws us together and invites us to gently place our hands on one another leading us onward.
Sydney Bryan:
Sydney Bryan was born on January 6th, 1999 in Cincinnati, OH. Growing up in the small town of Lebanon, OH, Sydney has caused artistic trouble her whole life. From drawing on the walls, to cutting her own bangs as a toddler, Sydney’s creative spirit was always present. Sydney currently studies at Northern Kentucky University and seeks a BFA in Visual Communication Design. She is the current President of the Design Guild at NKU and is finishing her fourth year. Since in college, Sydney has sold many pieces and has had work in multiple exhibition both on and off campus.
Art and Design are a necessity. As designers, we use art skills that we may not even realize they are using, and as artists, we are designing with every decision we make. In my designs, I wish to embody traditional pen and paper techniques while still communicating clearly. The more pieces I make, the more I learn exactly how much designing is used for composition and special judgement. I want to show that graphic designers can do more than just computer work, and my goal is to use these finer art skills to aid in my designs work.
Sydney Bryan was born on January 6th, 1999 in Cincinnati, OH. Growing up in the small town of Lebanon, OH, Sydney has caused artistic trouble her whole life. From drawing on the walls, to cutting her own bangs as a toddler, Sydney’s creative spirit was always present. Sydney currently studies at Northern Kentucky University and seeks a BFA in Visual Communication Design. She is the current President of the Design Guild at NKU and is finishing her fourth year. Since in college, Sydney has sold many pieces and has had work in multiple exhibition both on and off campus.
Art and Design are a necessity. As designers, we use art skills that we may not even realize they are using, and as artists, we are designing with every decision we make. In my designs, I wish to embody traditional pen and paper techniques while still communicating clearly. The more pieces I make, the more I learn exactly how much designing is used for composition and special judgement. I want to show that graphic designers can do more than just computer work, and my goal is to use these finer art skills to aid in my designs work.
Betty Bone:
Betty Bone is an Artist, Graphic Designer, and Educator. She graduated from Georgetown College with a BA in Art and from Savannah College of Art and Design with an MFA in Graphic Design. She has worked as a professional graphic designer for over 15 years. Most of her work has been in corporate identity, consumer packaged goods, editorial and print design. As a maker for as long as she can remember, she thrives on creating and pushing boundaries. Since starting work as an Assistant Professor at Thomas More College in 2015 she has been able to pursue more artistic and creative works beyond the world of Graphic Design.
Betty Bone is an Artist, Graphic Designer, and Educator. She graduated from Georgetown College with a BA in Art and from Savannah College of Art and Design with an MFA in Graphic Design. She has worked as a professional graphic designer for over 15 years. Most of her work has been in corporate identity, consumer packaged goods, editorial and print design. As a maker for as long as she can remember, she thrives on creating and pushing boundaries. Since starting work as an Assistant Professor at Thomas More College in 2015 she has been able to pursue more artistic and creative works beyond the world of Graphic Design.
Chrissy Collopy: In My garden By the Sea
Hi, I’m Chrissy Collopy. I live and work in my studio, in a small rural Brigadoon of a village, Darrtown, Ohio. I am inspired by my wild secret garden that grows in my backyard, and by my fantasy of it being by the sea. The themes in my work touch on contemporary topics such as concerns for the environment, human relationships, spirituality, and pop culture all through a microcosmic fantastical feminist lens. I create in order to reflect on my own personal experiences, and exhibit to invoke conversations about these themes. The style I create in, and have developed over the course of my career, was first inspired by Abstract Art, Pop Art, Surrealism, and DADAism.
Hi, I’m Chrissy Collopy. I live and work in my studio, in a small rural Brigadoon of a village, Darrtown, Ohio. I am inspired by my wild secret garden that grows in my backyard, and by my fantasy of it being by the sea. The themes in my work touch on contemporary topics such as concerns for the environment, human relationships, spirituality, and pop culture all through a microcosmic fantastical feminist lens. I create in order to reflect on my own personal experiences, and exhibit to invoke conversations about these themes. The style I create in, and have developed over the course of my career, was first inspired by Abstract Art, Pop Art, Surrealism, and DADAism.
Mallory Custer
Mallory Custer is a 21 year old junior double major in Art Education and Studio Art with a Printmaking Concentration. While she enjoys all art forms and media. However, she leans more towards drawing, painting, and of course printmaking.
Mallory Custer is a 21 year old junior double major in Art Education and Studio Art with a Printmaking Concentration. While she enjoys all art forms and media. However, she leans more towards drawing, painting, and of course printmaking.
Christy Douglas:
Christy is a Cincinnati artist who grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, She studied art at the Savannah College of Art & Design and received her BFA in Visual Communications from the University of Mississippi.
She describes abstract painting as breaking down a thought or idea to its core, where the subject is gone and you build it back together, changing it, making it take on a whole new perspective.
Her process is a balance between chaos and calm. Her paintings begin with chaos and slowly become organized and intentional. After establishing a color palette, Christy paints intuitively, embracing the struggle and journey that makes each painting unique.
“Ophelia” is part of a series titled “Feminine Intensity”. Christy’s southern upbringing surrounded her with figures of strong, successful women. The affirmations and faith modeled by these women influence Christy and her interpretations of femininity. This series began as a color study and evolved into portraying a woman’s blend of confidence and grace through the intensities of color and movement of shape and line.
Christy has been a high school art teacher for 18 years. A recent opportunity has enabled her to devote time to her own calling as an artist.
Christy is a Cincinnati artist who grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, She studied art at the Savannah College of Art & Design and received her BFA in Visual Communications from the University of Mississippi.
She describes abstract painting as breaking down a thought or idea to its core, where the subject is gone and you build it back together, changing it, making it take on a whole new perspective.
Her process is a balance between chaos and calm. Her paintings begin with chaos and slowly become organized and intentional. After establishing a color palette, Christy paints intuitively, embracing the struggle and journey that makes each painting unique.
“Ophelia” is part of a series titled “Feminine Intensity”. Christy’s southern upbringing surrounded her with figures of strong, successful women. The affirmations and faith modeled by these women influence Christy and her interpretations of femininity. This series began as a color study and evolved into portraying a woman’s blend of confidence and grace through the intensities of color and movement of shape and line.
Christy has been a high school art teacher for 18 years. A recent opportunity has enabled her to devote time to her own calling as an artist.
Madison Eaglowski:
Madison Eaglowski is currently pursuing her Bachelors of Fine Arts in painting and drawing at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She primarily creates oil portraiture that relays her own personal experiences using transactional humor to avoid rejection from a society that is obsessed with women’s bodies. Madison constructs scenes with surface-level humor and places herself within them to confront her own behavior and expose her inability to identify with the polarized movements discussing these issues today. By using humor as a vehicle to share her own criticism and confusion, Madison invites the viewer to participate in a discussion on the complexity of women’s issues, as well as their own interpersonal transactions.
Madison Eaglowski is currently pursuing her Bachelors of Fine Arts in painting and drawing at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She primarily creates oil portraiture that relays her own personal experiences using transactional humor to avoid rejection from a society that is obsessed with women’s bodies. Madison constructs scenes with surface-level humor and places herself within them to confront her own behavior and expose her inability to identify with the polarized movements discussing these issues today. By using humor as a vehicle to share her own criticism and confusion, Madison invites the viewer to participate in a discussion on the complexity of women’s issues, as well as their own interpersonal transactions.
Christine Huskisson:
Christine Huskisson is Co-founder (2014) and Co-publisher of UnderMain, Inc., a Kentucky not-for-profit magazine dedicated to arts and culture. She co-founded and currently curates two of the programs promoted by UnderMain: Critical Mass and the Artist Studio Visit Series. Huskisson's passion for promoting contemporary artists' works stems from her belief that we come to know the individual through creative expression. As writer, publisher, and collector, Huskisson has intentionally supported visual artists and writers at various stages of their careers. She has created numerous portraits of contemporary artists for Smiley Pete Publishing, AEQAI, Burnaway, and UnderMain, Inc. Huskisson comes to art-making through a background in arts advocacy and administration. Her exploration of portraiture began with a simple interest in mastering figuration. She explores the connection between formal elements that comprise the work and the emotional content that charges it.
Christine Huskisson is Co-founder (2014) and Co-publisher of UnderMain, Inc., a Kentucky not-for-profit magazine dedicated to arts and culture. She co-founded and currently curates two of the programs promoted by UnderMain: Critical Mass and the Artist Studio Visit Series. Huskisson's passion for promoting contemporary artists' works stems from her belief that we come to know the individual through creative expression. As writer, publisher, and collector, Huskisson has intentionally supported visual artists and writers at various stages of their careers. She has created numerous portraits of contemporary artists for Smiley Pete Publishing, AEQAI, Burnaway, and UnderMain, Inc. Huskisson comes to art-making through a background in arts advocacy and administration. Her exploration of portraiture began with a simple interest in mastering figuration. She explores the connection between formal elements that comprise the work and the emotional content that charges it.
Jazmina Robinhawk:
Jazmina is a current student at Northern Kentucky University (NKU), working on obtaining her Bachelor’s in fine arts. She was raised around art and encouraged to create her own works at a very young age. However, Jazmina did not truly start developing her work until 2019, when she discovered her love for painting. Over the past two years, she has been refining her voice as an artist. She speaks about feminism and challenging the boundaries of binary roles.
I have grown up with other’s expectations of how I must conduct myself as a woman. As I have gotten older I fight to break down these binary boundaries in pursuit of finding who I am as an individual. While I am in transition of what I want my voice to be, my work explores mental health and femininity; oftentimes combining the two. Symbolism is a major part of my work. It has been a device used throughout history to convey a meaning more than just a mere work of art. The symbolism is not always upfront and obvious, as I try to make my viewer think and connect more with the piece in front of them.
Jazmina is a current student at Northern Kentucky University (NKU), working on obtaining her Bachelor’s in fine arts. She was raised around art and encouraged to create her own works at a very young age. However, Jazmina did not truly start developing her work until 2019, when she discovered her love for painting. Over the past two years, she has been refining her voice as an artist. She speaks about feminism and challenging the boundaries of binary roles.
I have grown up with other’s expectations of how I must conduct myself as a woman. As I have gotten older I fight to break down these binary boundaries in pursuit of finding who I am as an individual. While I am in transition of what I want my voice to be, my work explores mental health and femininity; oftentimes combining the two. Symbolism is a major part of my work. It has been a device used throughout history to convey a meaning more than just a mere work of art. The symbolism is not always upfront and obvious, as I try to make my viewer think and connect more with the piece in front of them.
Katelynn Rogers:
I was born and raised in Canton, Ohio, and am in my third year at Columbia College of Chicago studying Fine Art Photography. Since the pandemic, I have been studying and working full time as an independent artist from my childhood home in Canton.
I began shooting self-portraiture when I was fifteen, six years into the past when I did not realize depression was a disease that would never leave me. I have shot almost every day since then: with an iPhone, with a digital camera, with 35mm film - with any device and equipment I could grasp onto. The self-portraits I’ve captured are the diary entries words could never write. My face, my skill, and my methods continue to evolve, but the woman in the photographs remain the same.
I was born and raised in Canton, Ohio, and am in my third year at Columbia College of Chicago studying Fine Art Photography. Since the pandemic, I have been studying and working full time as an independent artist from my childhood home in Canton.
I began shooting self-portraiture when I was fifteen, six years into the past when I did not realize depression was a disease that would never leave me. I have shot almost every day since then: with an iPhone, with a digital camera, with 35mm film - with any device and equipment I could grasp onto. The self-portraits I’ve captured are the diary entries words could never write. My face, my skill, and my methods continue to evolve, but the woman in the photographs remain the same.
Baylee Schmitt:
I’m Baylee Schmitt, a current MFA graduate student at Miami University. My undergraduate studies were in pre-art therapy and psychology, which led me to create works exploring psychological development within the home and within familial relationships. Through painting, collage, and needlework, I am able to reconstruct the psychological web of memory and relationships and make them tangible. The work begins with shoeboxes full of five-by-seven photographs found in my parents’ basement and in the photo albums that were tucked away. I use these family photographs to construct my past and identity. As I work, I ask myself which pieces of my psyche are innately situated as my own, and which are the result of things beyond my control, like the personalities within my home, the small town I grew up in, or pure genetics. I use collage as a way to compress the passing og time, to gather the scraps that resemble fickle memories that were forgotten and remembered again.
I’m Baylee Schmitt, a current MFA graduate student at Miami University. My undergraduate studies were in pre-art therapy and psychology, which led me to create works exploring psychological development within the home and within familial relationships. Through painting, collage, and needlework, I am able to reconstruct the psychological web of memory and relationships and make them tangible. The work begins with shoeboxes full of five-by-seven photographs found in my parents’ basement and in the photo albums that were tucked away. I use these family photographs to construct my past and identity. As I work, I ask myself which pieces of my psyche are innately situated as my own, and which are the result of things beyond my control, like the personalities within my home, the small town I grew up in, or pure genetics. I use collage as a way to compress the passing og time, to gather the scraps that resemble fickle memories that were forgotten and remembered again.
Melanie Stanley:
Melanie Stanley is an abstract painter with a love and fascination for outsider and primitive art. She has an affinity for art that comes from the soul. Melanie received a BFA from the Ohio State University.
I am an abstract painter. I rarely have an agenda when I paint. Often I just want to see what happens when I put paint on a surface. Sometimes I see the image, idea, or thought I want to pursue right away. Other times it is a long process of repaint, repaint and repaint.
I paint intuitively and try to adapt to the painting as it shifts and changes. I stay as flexible and as open as I can so that the painting has its own life. I try not to interfere too much, because if I do, the painting becomes overworked and unloved. Then it’s time for that repaint process.
Ain’t I a Woman was done quickly. I saw her right away. I have always considered myself a feminist in my work. It is always there, if not at the top of my mind, then right on the edge of my thought process when I make art.
Melanie Stanley is an abstract painter with a love and fascination for outsider and primitive art. She has an affinity for art that comes from the soul. Melanie received a BFA from the Ohio State University.
I am an abstract painter. I rarely have an agenda when I paint. Often I just want to see what happens when I put paint on a surface. Sometimes I see the image, idea, or thought I want to pursue right away. Other times it is a long process of repaint, repaint and repaint.
I paint intuitively and try to adapt to the painting as it shifts and changes. I stay as flexible and as open as I can so that the painting has its own life. I try not to interfere too much, because if I do, the painting becomes overworked and unloved. Then it’s time for that repaint process.
Ain’t I a Woman was done quickly. I saw her right away. I have always considered myself a feminist in my work. It is always there, if not at the top of my mind, then right on the edge of my thought process when I make art.
Amber Vickers:
My name is Amber Vickers and I am a senior SOTA student at NKU, majoring in Visual Arts and minoring in Women and Gender Studies. I proudly identify as female, and will always use my privileges to fight for the equality of others. Last year, I returned to school after a long adventure of finding myself. Along the way, I dealt with mental illness, addiction and motherhood. These things now fuel my art. Art is therapeutic for me and has been deeply instilled in my life ever since I was a child. I enjoy collaging, drawing and printmaking most. I’ve spent my entire life creating and learning new skills but my best creation will always be my daughter. She is my inspiration, my muse and sometimes even my model for portraits. It’s important for me to be a strong, female presence for her, as she and many like her, are our future generation of women and mothers. Thus, motherhood, femininity, equality and strength are huge components of my art. I hope you enjoy my works as much as I enjoyed creating them. Thank you. -“Here’s to strong women. May we know them. Maybe we be them. May we raise them.”
My name is Amber Vickers and I am a senior SOTA student at NKU, majoring in Visual Arts and minoring in Women and Gender Studies. I proudly identify as female, and will always use my privileges to fight for the equality of others. Last year, I returned to school after a long adventure of finding myself. Along the way, I dealt with mental illness, addiction and motherhood. These things now fuel my art. Art is therapeutic for me and has been deeply instilled in my life ever since I was a child. I enjoy collaging, drawing and printmaking most. I’ve spent my entire life creating and learning new skills but my best creation will always be my daughter. She is my inspiration, my muse and sometimes even my model for portraits. It’s important for me to be a strong, female presence for her, as she and many like her, are our future generation of women and mothers. Thus, motherhood, femininity, equality and strength are huge components of my art. I hope you enjoy my works as much as I enjoyed creating them. Thank you. -“Here’s to strong women. May we know them. Maybe we be them. May we raise them.”
Kait Warner:
I am a current sophomore at Miami University pursuing a degree in sociology and art therapy. I have been creating all types of art since I was young, and am currently focused on learning drawing techniques and exploring colored pencils. I enjoy channeling my creativity and being able to express myself through physical art. I am always striving to learn new methods and attempt challenging subjects that I used to be wary of starting. Art has given me an outlet to freely create the pieces that I want to create and hopefully use my passions in my future career.
I am a current sophomore at Miami University pursuing a degree in sociology and art therapy. I have been creating all types of art since I was young, and am currently focused on learning drawing techniques and exploring colored pencils. I enjoy channeling my creativity and being able to express myself through physical art. I am always striving to learn new methods and attempt challenging subjects that I used to be wary of starting. Art has given me an outlet to freely create the pieces that I want to create and hopefully use my passions in my future career.