Melanie Dowding

Melanie Dowding will earn their BA in Studio Arts and English in 2022 from Hamline University. Their work is autobiographical, incorporating elements of journal writings, thematic motifs, and illustrations. They are currently introducing textiles into their print works as an ode to the rawness of nostalgia, their favorite feeling, with materials including fabric and hand-knit/hand-crocheted surfaces, utilizing both intaglio and woodcut techniques.

I often find myself trapped in threads of questions and thoughts that have no tangible answers. Questions about the foundational threads of life, wonder for the future, curiosity about where I fit in to everything. I spend a lot of energy imagining that I can figure out what life is about, that if I ask enough questions, I’ll stumble upon an answer that makes everything click. Transforming this focus into my prints and other work is a large portion of why I create: to make sense of what plagues me and display my internality to an audience for observation, critique, and comprehension. Print media is a method of meaning-making that permits me to trust my gut with the marks that I make, but gives me an allowance for mistakes, changes of heart, and revisions of my compositions. The first mark on an intaglio plate feels permanent; it’s a feeling that grounds me to my work and pushes me to be intentional with my imagery. As I’ve solidified myself in intaglio printing, I’ve found I’m always wanting more. I have experimented with work involving textiles, either fabric or hand-knit “canvases” where I can mix traditional methods of printmaking and non-traditional surfaces to create a new technique of printing. Bringing in textiles to my work is important as it’s reflective of a younger version of myself, a child connected to the mediums around the house, still yearning for answers to ideas that don’t make sense to anyone. I shied away from sewing and knitting as a kid, but have grown to love it; this has always manifested as guilt in my adult self and I hope to heal through bringing textiles into my personal work. In this transitional period of finding a new way to print and working with non-conceptual imagery, I’ve found that I enjoy the process of breaking boundaries and taking steps into ideas that others have yet to explore– I hope for future conceptual work to reflect what I’ve been learning.

Matti Doroff

Matti Doroff earned their Bachelor’s degree in Digital Media Art from Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in May 2022. Their work plays with physical sensation and perception. In their three-dimensional creations, textiles, metal, projection, interactivity, and videography explore ways to defy cis-male heteronormative perceptions in art making. Matti uses imagery established by American traditional and neo-traditional tattooing in their two-dimensional work to serve as a tongue-in-cheek rebellion and reclamation of the body. The rich tradition of tattooing has contributed to their practice in the past and this reconnection through illustration serves as the next step for them. While creating sculpture and illustration, Matti is also progressing towards a tattoo apprenticeship to extend their artistic practice.

I make work in sculpture and illustration fixated on transforming the physical body and the spiritual body. Creating within these mediums serves to use physical space as a facsimile of the ways we modify our own bodies. I look to well-established visual traditions in tattooing and to nature to inform my own aesthetic decision making. With this perspective and experience I radicalize my own art-making. This is an act of rebellion to male dominated aesthetics, expectations, and perceptions. Working with textiles in sculpture becomes a way to tap into my own femininity and tie myself into a long tradition of women artists utilizing craftwork. Using punch needle weaving to imitate tattooing transforms it into an act of resistance. The physical act of making puts the artist in a position over the skin of the sculptures, like the intimate act of working over a body and leaving behind art with the needles. This is a deep connection to the body and its transformation. Ecdysis, a snake constantly growing and shedding off their old skin, serves as a central motif in my current work. The snake's growth and shedding is a metaphor for choosing our own transformation with body art.

Tou Cag Xiong

Tou Cag Xiong is a videographer who lives and works in St.Paul, Minnesota. He currently attends Hamline University and will earn his BA in Digital Media Arts in May 2022. His love for cinema propelled him to take the seat of director in his teenage years. Tou Cag began working with video throughout high school and college. He’s taken a wide variety of digital and audio college courses that have sharpened his skills throughout the years. He has shot documentaries, digital portraits, short films, and interviews. His recent works have explored the relationship between technology and body image.

“Into Dysmorphia” is a work that focuses on body dysmorphia and the impacts of social media on the relationship we have with our own bodies. Khong Muas, a competitor in multiple Minnesota Men’s Physique shows, brings to the table a long history of a struggle with body and image. Eduardo Cruz began his health journey just over a year ago and offers an important insight into how his relationship with food and himself has changed due to body dysmorphia. The influence of social media was a crucial part of both interviewee’s stories. 

I became inspired to create “Into Dysmorphia” because of the lack of media surrounding body dysmorphia, especially in men. Many videos discussing this topic were from years ago and social media was certainly not the same back then. With a flood of social media influencers spouting false expectations to average people that they can all achieve unrealistic bodies, it has led to a cycle of constant comparison and self-loathing when those expectations are not met. The cyclical process of social media feeding body dysmorphia is one that is complicated and may take quite a long time to end. A great start would be to bring awareness to it. I hope that audiences can leave “Into Dysmorphia” with a better understanding and insight into the complexity of body dysmorphia and how it has become magnified due social media.

Emma coleman

Emma Coleman will earn her BA in Studio Arts with a focus in printmaking and a BBA in Business Administration focus in Marketing from Hamline University in May. She is currently a contract graphic designer for Triffid Swim. Her work explores the concepts of invited intimacy through printmaking and observed moments. With intentionally cropped imagery the audience is asked to slow down and experience the calm intimacy depicted. She is a passionate artist, and an enthused gardener and cook.

My work focuses on the small moments in everyday life. Far too often we forget to slow down, we expect life to be filled with big exciting moments, a highlight reel. I have always been a people watcher, noticing how two people hold hands, the way they talk with their hands, or cross their legs while curled up on the couch. It's in these moments of calm that I see the beauty of the human body and how it relates to itself. With the use of small cropped images, I am showing you the parts I have noticed, and with use of color, I am guiding you to notice the small details. The forced perspective in each image asks you to slow down and find your own calm. These moments the work focuses on are intimate. Time shared between two people interacting, or even a moment alone. This intimacy that is often overlooked or simply not shared is what I am capturing on an equally intimate scale. My memories and camera roll are made up of these small, tender moments, the beauty in the mundane. From the moments these prints capture to the process of creating each work, I am sharing with you my calm, my happy. I invite you to take a moment and see what I see. At first you might see one thing, but sit with it, see what I've noticed.

Sena Ross

Sena Ross will earn her BA degree majoring in Digital Media Arts and minoring in Religion from Hamline University in December of 2022. She is currently an intern at Hamline marketing’s creative office, and the design editor for the campus newspaper, the Oracle. She is also running the alumni organization for Komatsu Summer School in Japan. Her work centers in videography and graphic design, exploring the combination of art and humor in order to open up conversations that may be difficult for people to have.

I use my art and platform with comedy in order to open up conversations that may be difficult for people to have. Irony and comedy are the best ways for me to express the messages I want to let people know, because I wish for everyone to have a bit of a giggle when they see my art. Often my art will include many mixtures of mediums, creating a new form of art, to achieve this.In the past two years, living through the pandemic, I’ve seen our whole society having so much influence on consumerism/materialism. Every transaction became online; from advertisement to the actual perchance of the product. Large part of this consumerism trend, I believe, is connected with aesthetics and branding. Many consumers today evaluate products by the branding rather than the functionality often with very little informative advertisement with the right “vibe.” From here, the idea of a *fake* company was created. This project is an art formed by capitalism combined with a social experiment. We see around 5,000 ads per day. How many of them are we affected by? What kinds of ads are we more attracted to? What is branding? What makes one specific advertisement more significant than the others? In this project, I tackle all of these questions I have daily while scrolling through my phone, or walking down the street.

Sena’s website can be accessed via the icon below

andrea lindner

Andrea Lindner will be earning her BA in English with a concentration in professional writing and Digital Media Arts in May 2022 from Hamline University. Her focus is in graphic design, digital illustration, and photography. Her work explores the intersection of digital art and writing through the lens of mental health. Her work is centered around the importance of color and how it affects our emotions.

Sometimes is a children’s book explaining to children that we do not ‘choose’ joy, or sadness, or anger, sometimes they just are. My work is about emotions and what it means to feel certain things. It is important for me to talk about mental and emotional health to children in a way that is affirmative, validating, and easily understood. Told in a series of short rhyming couplets, Sometimes makes the importance of mental health easy for children to digest, while explaining to them that rather than ignoring these emotions, or waiting for them to pass, they should accept that these feelings are a part of life and completely normal. The lack of color in the base illustrations and explosion of color in the supplementary elements is me holding back from my usual color use in order to emphasize how colors and emotions are so intricately intertwined in my mind. 

The messy, unfinished style,  accomplished through the usage of charcoal pens in Procreate, emphasizes how we are all works in progress, and while we do not choose joy, we do choose what we do with the emotions that we have, whether that be yelling, crying, or smiling.

This work is dedicated to my sister, Katrina, and contains the things I wish that I had told her.

Charlie murphy

Charlie Murphy will be graduating from Hamline University with a Bachelor’s degree in Digital Media Arts in May 2022. Her digital media artworks combine audio, video, and graphic media to explore identity and storytelling through a technological lens. Her work is also informed by extensive performance and teaching experience in music, dance, and theater arts, as well as her years spent performing and teaching internationally.

In the eyes of an actor, the concepts of being oneself and being “in character” may seem opposites, or at least separated. Yet, in my experience, it’s often easier to be “in character” than to be one’s self.

 This short film explores themes of being authentic and showing what's under the surface, and how nerves and social pressure can get in the way. I've experienced this in my life both as an actor, and as a trans person. Auditions are daunting, no matter how many you've done. Some actors very easily get into character and see the world of their character, but it's harder under the intense pressure and high stakes of an audition. An audition also puts a person under intense scrutiny, making it even more nerve wracking to me as a trans person.

 To reveal the unseen vision of an actor, truly living in the world of their character, I turn to rotoscoping. Rotoscope animation edits each frame of video to make an animated look with realistic features and motions. I then combine the animation with live action video to smoothly fade between imagination and reality. Through this style we can see as this imaginary world is built, falters, and comes into clarity. The actor's imagination comes to life, as they truly get "In Character."

Jada bennett

Bennett will earn a degree in Studio Art and Art History from Hamline University in the spring of 2022. Art has been a fixture in her everyday life since she first started filling up notebooks cover-to-cover with illustrations in the fourth grade. Her contemporary practice is in two-dimensional multimedia, ranging from acrylic to oils, canvas to cardboard, and ink to colored pencil. Her works are violent, fragmented, abstract self-portraits that toe the line between grotesque and alluring. Her surreal compositions of blood, eroticism, and injury represent her ruminations on the personal experiences and fixations that she continues to return to again and again. She does not ask viewers to always enjoy the work nor to understand the personal meaning generated. Rather, all she asks is that it be pondered and engaged with with intention.

My work is inherently selfish. I am fixated on the self-portrait and it bleeds into nearly everything I make; everything here is a self-portrait, even if it is not my body depicted. My fixations, desires, frustrations, reflections, and anxieties are ubiquitous to my compositions and sense of aesthetics.

Stylization is important to me because it helps represent that which is difficult to articulate. My works are violent, fragmented, abstract self-portraits that toe the line between grotesque and alluring. Bodies are rendered not just according to how they would behave in real life, but in conjunction with how it feels to be balanced, hung, stretched, or coiled in their positions. Fragmented figures and their dramatized injuries walk a line between pleasurable and discomforting to perceive, just as they are to create. Flowers flood and place strain on open wounds while hands alternatively claw and caress. Tension, anxiety, arousal, exhaustion, attraction, dissociation, and obsession are all well at home in my compositions. My symbolism and imagery are creations of my own mindseye and possess meaning individual to me.

The work is a refusal to mask or censor my condition. It's as much of a struggle to represent myself so truthfully as it is cathartic to do so. My self-portraiture is both vulnerable and imposing when I depict myself as gored yet alluring. It's also a compromise; here, on the canvas, I will express myself wholly and without hesitation in exchange for the exhaustion and effort it takes to continue moving through a world I continually find myself an ill fit for.

The erotic bent to my work carries this concept, deliberately created to juxtapose the violence at play. I want arousal and discomfort to both be in conversation with one another as well as to appear as inseparable. Anxiety persists even in pleasant times just as an out-of-place giddiness stays close in times of duress. My emotions, thoughts, instincts, and sensations are often all tangled together. Contrary to what it may seem, not all of my pieces represent moments of distress. Rather, the aggregate whole of my portfolio positions the viewer to be unable to decipher what is a pleasurable experience and what is not at first glance. This is an invitation to, firstly, spend more time with the work to puzzle over it and, secondly, assess the roots of their own personal initial reaction. I do not ask viewers to always enjoy looking at my work nor to understand the personal meaning generated. Rather, all I ask is that it be pondered and engaged with with intention.

Abdirahman Ali

Abdirahman Ali will be earning his BA in Digital Media Arts in May 2022 from Hamline University. He has a broad experience in photography, videography, graphic design and sound design. His work incorporates styles learned in the classroom and self-taught styles. Abdirahman has a passion for telling stories of people in a manner that uplifts them and represents them well.

My work examines how people deal with intrapersonal and interpersonal conflict in their everyday life.  Conflict to many people is considered only as wars and physical confrontation which is far from the truth.  Interpersonal conflict is a natural outcome of human interaction. People have very separate values, expectations, and attitudes towards life and events that happen around them. When you interact with someone who doesn’t share your opinions or goals, conflict can result. Intrapersonal conflict arises within a person. For example, when you're uncertain about what is right or wrong, or you have a sense of not being good enough to perform a task, you are experiencing intrapersonal conflict. 

The subjects for this project were a friend of mine who is a sophomore in college and my communication professor who has a doctorate in social justice and race relations. My friend is an open book and someone who never shies away from talking about his feelings, dealing with issues that come up in his life rationally, and reflecting on how it affects his life.  My professor spends an enormous part of her time debating and educating people who have different views or values than her. I was inspired to record conversations I’ve had with these two people and create an art project that narrates their stories in audio, photography, and illustration form. The stories remind us how conflict isn’t always serious or negative. Having the skills to recognize and work through interpersonal and intrapersonal conflict in productive, healthy ways is an important skill that can help us live better and build stronger relationships with our loved ones.

Alyssa Osborn

Alyssa Osborn will be earning her BA in Digital Media Arts in the winter of 2022 from Hamline University. Her digital arts focus is mainly on digital illustration, audio, and coding. Her work explores psychology, social, and political issues. She started developing her digital arts skills as she was inspired by animated films, video games and music while growing up.

This animation explores the topic of pollution, toxic environments, destruction and climate change, illustrating an abstracted depiction of falling debris. It is an animation made with JavaScript using the p5.js editor. This partially randomized animation moves in patterns to mimic falling snow. This project aims to visualize feelings of helplessness to change future outcomes as massive industries and corporations continue to destroy the planet. For a long time, I asked myself what I could say about climate change that hasn’t been said and for what purpose. The problem now isn’t only ignorance about these issues, but that we are seemingly unable to change the situation. I deliberated between creating a disquieting piece or a comforting one, knowing that the power to stop climate change is not within the majority of people’s hands. As a result of this questioning, my work became an expression of concepts such as uncertainty and frozen-ness. The encroachment of the dark particles over the canvas is meant to represent the progression and building of environmental collapse, but also feelings of doom, loss of hope, and wide-scale learned helplessness related to impacting future outcomes. The semi-random animation represents a balance between outcomes that are preventable and those that are inevitable.

Lindsey Bernardy

Lindsey Bernardy will be obtaining her BA in digital media arts and secondary education in the spring of 2022. Following graduation, she hopes to teach media arts in the high school classroom. Much of her work has been based on her hopes for the future of education and her experiences in the classroom.

At its core, silence is ‘the complete absence of sound.’ For some, this lack of sound leads to peace and tranquility. For others, forms of silence lead to unease. I question if it is possible to truly experience silence.

My mind is always turning with thoughts, and the isolation so many have felt over the course of the past few years has left them with only their thoughts to distract them. Through a series of questions, I discovered many others have similar experiences and thoughts toward silence. While some seek it out, others run from it. While some find it peaceful, others don’t find it at all. These contrasting views led me to my final design.

To fully capture different perspectives of silence, I utilized audio and visual components to create a video in which people’s perceptions of silence can be both seen and heard. With a soundscape ranging from Tinnitus (ringing) to mundane grocery lists and nuances, and a colorful visual experience with distractions and busyness of its own, the idea of silence evolves throughout the viewing experience from a state of peace to one of chaos, leaving viewers wondering if silence exists at all. From daily distractions such as social media to inner intrusive thoughts about self worth, the viewing experience allows an audience to explore how deafening silence can be.

Katie Viles

Katie Viles will be earning her BA in Digital Media Arts in May 2022 from Hamline University. Her broadly-focused degree has given her a diverse palette of experiences including Photography, Videography, Web Design, and Graphic Design. Her work incorporates styles learned in the classroom as well as fellow digital creatives, as she is always looking to grow in her creative abilities.

The intention of my work is to showcase the themes that are represented by the struggles that collegiate athletes face post-retirement through a photo essay in book form. The phenomenon of inevitably undergoing an identity crisis after sport is a struggle that every athlete experiences in some way but rarely talks about. Questions like “How do I fill the void of what used to be my practice time?” and “How do I keep my body in shape when I no longer have a coach barking at me during weights?” commonly surface when athletes step off the court and hang up their jerseys because oftentimes we as athletes let sports define our character and compartmentalize our life. As an athlete myself, I have learned that sports should not be who I am but something that I do. After surveying several alumni for their perspective on life after sports and how athletic retirement impacted them individually, six main overarching themes became the framework for this project. No sense of direction, lacking structure, having to find new hobbies or a replacement activity, struggling with body image, filling the void/emptiness, and increased free time.

Combining photography and writing is important to this work because it represents the culmination of my studies throughout my time at Hamline. All of the photos are taken via Nikon D3300, edited using Adobe Lightroom, and uploaded to InDesign for the final format. This process is crucial to the work because the way a photo is taken, edited, and displayed changes the entire meaning for the viewer. Pursuing DSLR photography was the ideal route to take because it provides a photo that looks crisp both on screen and on a page in a printed book. These types of photos are also higher in quality and easier to manipulate, which is essential during the editing process. Realizing the importance of having context to guide the reader to a better understanding of this topic is what prompted me to incorporate writing in addition to the photos. My goal was to not only enhance the experience for the audience by bringing them into the work through captivating writing, but to also amplify the voices of past athletes as they reflect and share their perspectives.

Lili Olson

Lili Olson will be earning her BA in Studio Arts with a focus in painting in May 2022 from Hamline University. She works primarily in acrylic and oil paints. The content in which she paints has evolved over time from art therapy, portraiture, and rendering vintage Vogue covers. Her work today is inspired by the beauty in nature and landscapes. Some pieces are derived from examining real life scenery and others are imagined and surreal. All of her art is driven by personal expression and personal interest.

This series contains paintings that reflect the deepest parts of me. They show my journey through painting first being used as therapy to becoming a passion that truly brings me happiness. I’m painting with oil, and my work is heavily textured with multiple layers. The layers it takes to discover each final product reflect my experience with my mental health and the progress I have made to be where I am today. My paintings rely on bright colors, which are reflective of the way I feel inside. These elements combined make it as if the colors are jumping off the canvas, similar to the way my joy for life breaks past my surface and is shared with those around me. To me, my work is more than just ‘painting pretty things.’ My work is evidence that life is precious and beautiful, and that it’s worth it to stick around to experience it. I was first introduced to painting as a method of therapy for depression in a psychiactric facility after three failed suicide attempts. I used painting as a tool to cope with my internal pain and sadness. My work during this time was dark and colorless, depicting nameless and faceless girls disappearing into an abyss, just as I hoped I would. The loneliness and the darkness that I felt inside fueled this work. As I continued on the path of therapy and using painting to manage my depression, I began to feel better and my paintings reflected that improvement. I have since come a long way to turn my work into something more meaningful, powerful, and joyful. As I paint today, I am strides off from where I was at the very beginning of my artistic journey. I have worked hard at overcoming depression and I am feeling real joy in life. Today, I create pretty work that is fueled by the colorfulness I feel inside. The pieces I render now are contrived from joy rather than pain. I see the beauty of life around me in nature and in day-to-day scenery. I feel bright and beautiful on the inside, and I want to share that feeling with others through my work.

Mel Hopkins

Mel Hopkins will be completing their Bachelor of Arts degree in Digital Media Arts in May of 2022 from Hamline University, Saint Paul, MN. Their main focus in the digital media program was working in graphic design but has experience in screen printing, photography, digital audio, and videography. Most prominent skills are in layout, color, and typography. They have been using the Adobe Suite, mainly Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign, since September 2013 and have gained certifications with those programs in the past. Pieces they create most often are logo designs, branding guides, and small pieces for themself or friends.

The focus of this art series is the education, awareness and de-stigmatization of the mental health world in collegiate student-athletes due to the lack of conversation and openness in collegiate sports. Mental health is not as prioritized as physical health and can ultimately hurt an athlete in the short and long term. So much of this topic is silenced and pushed to the side, “mental toughness” defined as to suffer through it and not asking for help as needed. I want this series of work to communicate the self-talk and behaviors of student-athletes when they are suffering with a mental health crisis or breakdown. Being able to visualize and show this topic in a way that allows for more conversation, relating to, connecting, and breaking the stigma is the ultimate goal. Using fonts, colors, and textures that are inherently athletic, like the halftone and san-serif fonts is also a part of that communication I am trying to accomplish. Helping others bring their ideas to life is a major part of my art. 

In the end, I am a functional artist that wants to create for others and bring ideals to light that are usually passed over because that is the way things have been for however long. My pieces are usually very simple with limited colors and flatter imagery that help draw the eye and keep the work legible idea clean and easy to understand. The same approach is used with the use of fonts and typography to help keep that theme going. I choose colors and make designs based on what I think would be best and research similar concepts because I want my audience to be able to connect and relate to whatever I make, having a clear understanding of what I am trying to say with my work.

Alex Magozzi

Alex Magozzi is a Minneapolis designer earning her BA in Digital Media Arts in May of 2022 from Hamline University. Her work focuses primarily on digital illustration and graphic design, however, she has worked with a variety of mediums including sculpture, printmaking, and illustration.

My work explores the relationship between the self and the cyclicity of life. The ever-presence of energy within our universe, the life and death of all living things. These pieces of knowledge present to us a burden as conscious, sentient beings; to know that we are not all that important in the grand scheme of things, and that we exist within the boundaries of our own physical bodies, extremely fragile systems of organs and tissues with an expiration date. In western art, insects have long resided as symbols of metamorphosis and the brevity of life. The ancient Greeks, fascinated by insect biology, viewed the butterfly as the symbol of the soul, and caterpillars as being the earthly body from which the soul is set free.