“Familiar Strangers” Artists open up about their work and inspirations (pt. 2)

Dec 13

Loyola University Maryland’s senior art students have their work displayed in our Julio Fine Arts Gallery for our current exhibition. Their work ranges from all different types of art such as paintings, photographs, and sculptures. One of the most interesting aspects of art is that there can be many different interpretations of what a piece represents. A number of these Loyola seniors were generous enough to speak about what their artwork means to them.

Averi Cannon

Averi Cannon created her artwork, Celestial Secrets, through a series of photographs. Cannon became interested in photography during high school and works in a variety of photographic medias. Her work has been showcased many times in exhibitions from her high school which includes a large print that was in an art auction at her high school in 2018. Cannon’s inspiration for her artwork comes from creative drive. She says, “I love creating artwork because it gives me an outlet. I find so much joy in having the ability to express myself in a creative way, and by making beautiful and abstract pieces that are all so different from one another. No two photographs are the same, and I love pushing myself to constantly create something new.”

Cannon’s favorite part about her project in the current exhibition comes with a personal touch. “My favorite part about creating my series for the gallery this semester was taking such unique portraits of some of my closest friends. Working with models that I have a relationship with made the experience so special and we made so many memories. I was also able to create a body of work that I know will always mean so much to me,” says Cannon.

Cannon hopes to continue creating artwork after college and potentially even starting her own small business. She says, “In the future I would love to be able to open my own photography business on the side. I am a speech pathology major so I definitely want to pursue a career in that field, but I think doing photography on the side would bring so much joy into my life.”

Camryn Simmerman

Camryn Simmerman also created a series of photographs entitled, Blooming Moments. Simmerman is best known for her digital portraits. She is a dancer and performer which has caused her to fall in love with being in front of the camera at a young age and now she loves being behind it. Simmerman finds the inspiration for her work all around her. She says, “Most of my inspiration for my artwork comes from my everyday life surroundings. When going through my day I notice things that make me happy. I often take pictures of them and keep them in an album on my phone for later inspiration. When looking back at these photos I think of my relationship with the context of the image. I often look on Pinterest for further inspiration to break through my original idea. I like to make my work personal with many hiding meanings. In my opinion, a piece of artwork gains a whole new meaning once you learn the further information behind the surface of the work.”

Simmerman was forced to work out of her comfort zone on this piece as she primarily works with black and white photographs. However, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. “My favorite part about creating Blooming Moments was being forced out of my comfort zone. I normally work with black and white photography, but I wanted to challenge myself this semester by working with color. When I often focus on portrait photography, I tend to use the golden sun as my lighting however for this collection I had the opportunity to use the studio since we were back on campus! With this being said, many of my past portraits haven been taken outside with elaborate backgrounds. However, for Blooming Moments, I wanted to use a simple white background in the studio, to make sure my subject and flowers were the only things in the frame,” says Simmerman.

Simmerman already has a plan for what she hopes to accomplish through her artwork outside of college. She says, “After college, I hope to continue my photo business Created by Cami Grace. I want to continue my passion through portrait photography. I hope to make all of my subjects gain some confidence and bring a smile to their face through my lens!”

Hannah Schaub

Hannah Schaub has always loved to doodle everywhere and on anything she could find. This becomes evident when you view her work, Repurposed Landscapes. Schaub has always viewed art as the solution to a problem which becomes evident in her inspiration to create her artwork. She says, “I often find myself inspired by problems that many people can relate to or that I believe should relate to (for example environmental crises and nature are a huge inspiration for me right now). I will usually incorporate my experiences as well as huge inspiration for me and my art being music.”

Many artists say that the favorite part of their work is planning a piece and then seeing it come to life at the end of the process. However, for Schaub, she has a different outlook on this classic idea. “For me planning and seeing the piece come together at the end is exciting, but I love when I am in the process of implementing my idea and think of something new to add or a skill/technique and getting to learn and try new hands-on techniques. This would be realizing painting a door wasn't enough and that I wanted to etch into the wood and permanently alter what I was making,” says Schaub.

Schaub has always used her artwork in many different ways. She hopes to continue to use her work in her career and various other ways outside of college. Schaub says, “I always like to refer to art as a universal language. I am looking to go into the creative side of advertising, so my drawing, painting and sculpture work is less of a job or career path I am looking into and more of something that I, both need in my life as a getaway from other parts of life. But also, I have used my work for things like non for profits and to create awareness for or dedicated & used by different charities and organizations in the past. This has been a prominent part of my art since I was young, so I hope to continue to use art in this way.”

Come view the hard work that these seniors have put into their art in the Julio Fine Arts Gallery, on display until December 17th, 2021!