Meet the Studio Artists

Meet the Studio Artists | Experience Maranatha 2023

Every year, a handful of students elevate to become Studio Artists. This year we are excited to introduce these seven talented artists, who are inspired differently and use various mediums to express their art. Be sure to visit their work at Experience Maranatha 2023. 

Brynn Campbell

I titled my art collection "Escape Art." They are not only landscapes but also a place you can escape from the social world. I enjoy painting landscapes and nature because it is the picture in my head. I don't want to showcase my overcrowded brain in my art because I don't usually connect feelings to my art. In my case, when I do art, it is to escape the stresses of the outside world and not continue thinking about it when I paint or create.   

Ryan Erickson

Art allows me to recreate the beauty of the natural world and express my admiration for God's creation. The series of art I made captures beautiful moments through photography and recreates the emotions through watercolor and oil paints. I am fascinated with many different art forms, and the media I choose display similar depictions but convey different emotions. For instance, photography is an art that captures a moment instantaneously, but the painted version takes hours of concentration and imagination. Additionally, my paintings differ from my photos as I emphasize certain elements by modifying the colors, texture, and lighting to portray specific emotions. By combining painting with photography, I can use my creativity to accentuate the emotions of astonishment and awe I feel when I experience God's creation.  

Hadley Grant

Art is the foundation we built humanity on, but society seems to have forgotten that. Art museums are increasingly struggling, and artists are ridiculed for choosing a "worthless" career. But to imagine a life without it, without any creativity or innovation—would that not be dull and depressing? We wouldn't have films, music, or paintings. Art helps us see things in a different light and evokes emotions we would have never discovered before. It's a distraction from the crushing reality we live in. I want to use my art to help brighten the world. I work with oil paints and ceramics to try and create thought-provoking pieces, or sometimes I just try to make them look pretty. I hope that when you look at my work, you can let the world around you fade away as you focus on the colors, the shapes, and the lines, just for that moment.  

Sebastian Petersen

Music was the first thing that inspired me to create perspectives with my art. Different genres helped me to see things in different ways. Everyone has a different way of seeing and understanding things in this world. These views can be described as one's "perspective" in life. I want the art I create to be applied to different perspectives. To do that, 

I combine physical aspects together to achieve a dynamic appearance. These physical aspects consist of multiple mediums chosen based on how I feel. These mediums are key to my art as they help to display emotion.  

Eric Schulte

My art is created from the top of my head, the zaniest, crazy, colorful thoughts. I like to see how busy and colorful I can make the art, to confuse and bewilder the viewer but ultimately to make the viewer think. I think art should catch one's eye; if art is very busy, it is more fun. My art process is also unique. I make art as I go rather than make art with a plan. I am much more into improv art than art that is too planned out. If I make a plan, I work with much less motivation, and the spontaneity disappears.  

Peyton Seitz

I view art as an outlet people use to express feelings that no one can fully understand besides themselves. The paintings and drawings I have done may seem random, but each piece portrays a lesson I have learned that I turned into a minimal design. I keep the surface more minimalistic because the significance of each one is determined by how one interprets it and not just how one sees it. At first glance, if someone were to look at my art, they would see an open-ended, meaningless abstract painting. I like that the viewer has the opportunity to make up their own story behind it, while I have my own. Its purpose or meaning could be different for everyone, and I think that is what makes it art.  

Rebecca Van Slyke

Art has always been the easiest way for me to express myself. I often find it hard to express my thoughts and feelings through words adequately, and art helps me express things that even I don't know about myself. I usually go into a project with an idea in mind, but I end up improvising and just going with whatever feels right. Though I enjoy working with just about any medium, sculpting is probably my favorite because I feel like it gives me more freedom to portray what I want it to. Discovering this freedom and experimenting has helped me grow in these past few years and finally be able to make art consistently I'm satisfied with.