Artist Biographies – Volume 142

MaKenna Brooks

My name is MaKenna, and I am a 3rd year transfer student from Arizona. I’m currently studying Graphic Design, as I love aesthetics and art. My main artistic hobby is drawing, but I have been wanting to branch out into other mediums, such as photography. My submission this year is one of my attempts at portraits, which I hope you all enjoy! 🙂

L.L. Main 

Loren Langdon graduated from Hidden Valley High School in Grants Pass, Oregon. After graduation he spent several years working and traveling before beginning his college education by attending Rogue Community College (RCC) before transferring to Oregon State University where he is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Bioengineering.

 

In his spare time Loren writes and posts original poetry every week to both his personal blog and Instagram under the pseudonym L.L. Main. Poetry is his passion, and he writes it for the joy inherent in the process.

 

Lily Giordano

Hello, I’m Lily Giordano! I’m a freshman from Idaho studying studio art, and am a part of the honors college. I like 70’s music, quesadillas, anime, and plants! I fell in love with both art and science, and am currently searching for a way to study both. I like to think my work reflects my appreciation for the natural world.

Lee Niemi 

Lee Niemi will receive his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from Oregon State University in 2022. During this time his focus has been in both sculpture and photography; his work in progress includes At Home, a series of composite photographs depicting his living space from above. This series is part of a larger body of work, Metamorphosis, that depicts trans experiences in both sculptural and photographic mediums using insect imagery. After graduating, he plans to work as a tattoo artist while continuing his fine art practice for a few years with the goal of then pursuing a Master of Fine Arts.

Kimberly Oshiro

Kimberly is a second year pursuing a major in New Media Communications and a minor in Asian Languages and Cultures with a Japanese focus. She is from Honolulu, Hawai’i and is an only child without a pet (sad). Luckily, she grew up close with her parents and frequently visiting relatives and cousins who are mostly older than her, so she has family to look up to.

 

She doesn’t have a specific image in mind for the future yet, but has a loose goal to one day work on the creative team for artistic projects like video games and/or shows.

Kaylee Wallace

Lesbian amateur artist, writer, and animator, I’m a marine biology student who does art to cope with stress. I like reading when I’m not making something of my own.

Kayla Noll-Bader

I am from Pennsylvania and am currently a third-year biology student at OSU. I love to write, watch Netflix, and eat fried pickles.

Jamie Heim 

Worked as broadcast journalist in Alaska, now living in Portland, Oregon. Currently an OSU Ecampus student enrolled in ART 263 Digital Photography.

Jack Isenhart

My name is Jack Isenhart. I grew up in Myrtle Point Oregon and I’m currently in my fourth and final year at Oregon State. I’m hoping to finish with a bachelors in Agriculture Business Management and a minor in Writing. My current plan after school is to return to my hometown and help my dad on the family farm. I’ve really enjoyed my time at OSU, even though a good portion of my time was spent agonizing over a computer from my house. For fun, I play in a classic rock band with some of my close friends; we call ourselves the South Fork Four. I also love spending time with my high school sweetheart Lupe Medina.

Gabriel Reitzes

Gabe is a fourth year-junior (covid was a time) studying Digital Communication Arts with a minor in Creative Writing. He’s from Portland, is 5’9, and enjoys eating yogurt straight from the tub. His favorite movies are Fargo, Sorry to Bother You, and My Neighbor Totoro.

Eli Smart

My name is Eli Smart, and I’m a photographer from Corvallis, Oregon. I enjoy photography mostly as a hobby, and it’s an excellent creative outlet to contrast the engineering coursework I typically find myself working on. I shoot with medium format, 35mm, and digital cameras.

Diana Christofersen

Hello, I am studying studio art as a post- bac student.

Aubrey Smith

My name is Aubrey Smith, and I am a third year student here at Oregon State. I am passionate about writing, video games, music and above anything else, art. I love nature, connecting with people, and having new experiences. I am currently majoring in New Media Communication, but am ultimately still exploring all of my options and trying to really identify the career field I want to venture into.

Ardea Eichner 

Ardea Eichner is a biology major veritably obsessed with art. She has been involved with Prism in the past, is currently a graphic designer at the pride center, and thinks about art just about all the time. She is in love with ecology, conservation and the natural world, and hopes to use her art to get other people invested in issues she cares about, and to feel things she feels – perhaps someday in an educational context. In addition to serious stuff though, she also hopes to help people escape from time to time, just the way her ridiculous drawings help her find whimsy and embrace her own space-casery.

Christine Castles 

Christine is a third year English and anthropology major. You will find her writing also in the Daily Barometer. She also spends a lot of her free time climbing and chasing her cat. 

Abigail Card

Abigail Card is an author living in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and three children. She’s a senior majoring Creative Writing. Her work has previously appeared in Abandon Journal, RAIN Magazine, Sustainability Times, For Women Who Roar, Owl Hollow Press’s annual anthology Frontiers: THen, Now, and Beyond, and was awarded Honorable Mention in the first quarter of the 2020 and the 2021 Writers of the Future Contest.

Marshall Saltz

I am an ECE student with an artistic background. I used to think I wanted to be an animator or writer, but engineering quickly stole me away after I joined a robotics club on a whim. I still like to do artsy things, but it is more of a hobby now.

Emmalee Roberts

i am simply a little dude just trying to get through it.

Olivia Eiler

Olivia is a transfer student from Southern Califonia majoring in English with a double degree in Education. She grew up in the suburbs of Orange County with an insatiable passion for the arts. During the pandemic, she enrolled in what she considered to be the worst English class she has ever taken. She was determined to provide a better education experience than she was provided with. Writing should not be a chore according to Olivia. Writing is a means to communicate what simply cannot be said aloud. It is our means of permanently transcribing the human condition. She writes nonsense prose and melancholy poetry as a means of recording her feelings into a physical format.

Zane Russell

Zane Russell is an artist and writer enthralled with the prospect of creative and subtle worldbuilding. Currently majoring in Innovation and Design Management at Oregon State, he strives to create unique, wacky, and unexpected work at every opportunity. Exploring what it means to introduce and weave a fictional or grounded world.

Ian Hermanson

I am from Northeast Portland. I grew up with two cats, no siblings, and many great friends whom I am still tight with today. Besides art I enjoy a wide variety of hobbies. I play soccer, run, backpack, fly fish, play guitar, freestyle rap, cook, read, drink tea, thrift, and build things out of wood. have been making art in some way ever since I was two. In high school I got into painting, and since then I have been exploring acrylics and oils through works of a variety of subjects, styles, and sizes. My major is Mechanical Engineering and I have a minor in Studio Art.

Matthew McKenna

Matthew McKenna is a professional trapper of time that captures moments of badass people, in badass places, doing badass things. From the beaches of Southern California to the forests of Washington and Oregon, Mckenna’s photos are layered with adventure, travel, lifestyle, and landscape subjects.

Vianne Sarber

I am Vianne Sarber, an Alaskan artist that has been exploring sculpture as a hobby since 2015. With no formal training, each day is a learning experience as I try to improve my artform. Inspired by the thriving online sculpting community, I was able to connect with artisans from across the globe, from all different backgrounds. This network inspired me to continue my work, eventually opening my online store in 2018. Every one of my dragons are created by hand, right at my desk. Even though polymer clay is my main medium, I also use ceramics. You will often find me in the SEC ceramics studio, come say hello!

Anita Spaeth

Anita Spaeth is an interdisciplinary artist & arts-integrated environmental educator based in Oregon. She/they graduated with their bachelor’s degree from Pacific Northwest College of Art (Portland, OR) in 2018, with an emphasis in book arts, ecology, and poetry. Anita is currently a graduate student at OSU in the Environmental Arts & Humanities program. She has worked in creative and educational contexts with PNCA (OR), OCAC (OR), OMSI (OR), The Girl Scouts of North America, and Islandwood (WA). Anita is passionately working towards their dream of cooperatively running a small farm & artist residency in the Oregon Coastal range.

Leah Kahn

Leah Kahn is a poet and Oregon native. She enjoys long walks in the woods, early morning bike rides, and occasional visits to fairyland. You can find her on twitter @leahthepoet.

Zane Yinger

Zane is a 3rd-year student studying ethnobotany and Spanish. Their hobbies include talking to trees, roller skating, playing the harp, and writing poetry.

Tosca Ruotolo

Tosca is a fourth-year Creative Writing major and Psychology minor. She has been making art all of her life, starting with drawing with their artistic father as a child. She is passionate about pen illustrations, collage and poetry. Tosca is the current President of the OSU poetry club and the Assistant Editor for Prism.

Sydney Marker

My name is Sydney Marker and I am currently in my first year at Oregon State University. I have been writing both stories and music ever since I was little and have loved creating stories for as long as I can remember. I finished writing my first novel in summer 2019 and have been in the process of editing it for the past two years. My goal is to have a final draft to send to publishers by the end of summer 2022.

Sam Chang

Sam Chang, also known as crowkerus, is an English-Education double major from Honolulu, Hawaii. They work primarily on personal art and writing projects in their free time, which they probably have far too much of, and love creating original universes to explore in both written and visual formats.

Melanie Gutzmann

I am a senior studying Computer Science at OSU, and art is how I unwind from the rigidity and frustrations of my field. As a self-taught artist, I love exploring mediums from watercolor to ceramics to embroidery, though I primarily work in digital art.

Emma Brockway

Hi, my name is Em and I’m an eighteen-year-old artist from Tualatin, Oregon. I am currently studying graphic design as a freshman at Oregon State University. In my downtime outside of art, I love music and live shows, exploring new places, thrifting, and hanging out with my sister (and cat)!

Carly Werdel

Carly is a human being out here living her best life and doing what she does best: procrastinating on homework by doing climate activism. In her other procrastinatory moments, she also enjoys writing poetry.

McKenzie Klecker

My name is McKenzie Klecker, I was born and raised in Bend Oregon and am currently a freshman at Oregon State University. I work with many mediums of which acrylic is my favorite. I value the beauty in people and the world around me and find that I best communicate this value through my artwork. I have been engaged in art in one way or another for as long as I can remember and hope to stay engaged in many art forms throughout my life.

Karree Lee

Karree Lee is a first-generation Cambodian American artist, studying Psychology and Studio Art. She plans to enter graduate school to become a future clinical psychologist. Lee mainly uses ink and paint, known for her distinctive dark and sometimes “scratchy” style. Her hobbies include listening to alternative 2000s pop-punk music and drinking root beer.

Stella Dizon Sablan

My name is Stella Dizon Sablan. I was born in July 2002 and raised in Portland, Oregon. I began painting at a very young age and my first experiences with art and painting have been at my elementary school of performing arts, Buckman. From there I learned to think more creatively, use new techniques, and grow to express myself. Since then, I’ve learned to paint faster and my devotion to painting became stronger. I observed that I loved painting nature and people so I continued to do so. When I got to high school, my teacher pushed me to learn more about why I paint what I paint, guiding me more to think about myself and my cultural background. After creating more paintings, I then participated in the Scholastic art awards, winning more than one gold key and one silver key. I also became a part of the National Art Honors Society, being a leader for NAHS at my high school.

 

I am an islander, half Chamorro, (from Guam for those that don’t know), and half Filipina. My influencers are my parents who were born and raised on Guam. Guam is such a special place to me and when I meet other people like my parents, I feel a sense of colorfulness and unconditional love they portray. I choose to incorporate a lot of colors into my pieces to express that same emotion and beauty, working primarily in acrylic.

Dakota Mason

I am a first-year here at OSU, as well as a long-time artist and jazz guitar player. My main types of art are printmaking, sketching, and bookbinding. You can often find me in the craft center checking out materials for my latest project, and watching D&D podcasts as I work.

Sam Groetsch

I’m a student at Oregon State who loves storytelling, literature, and the reality-altering nature of art.

Amelia Ayers

Howdy! My name is Amelia, and I’m an English and Creative Writing student here at OSU. Most of my creative work is in long-form prose or poetry. I tend to work with subjects relating to grief, loss, memory, queerness, and change, viewed through the lens of non-traditional narratives and forms.

Mackenzie M. Hebner

My name is Mackenzie M. Hebner, and I am a small-town girl from Montana who grew up surrounded by nature and enthralled by literature. I adore cold weather, rainy days, and a steaming cup of coffee, cocoa, or tea with everything I do. My favorite pastimes include studying the Bible, watching old Disney, spending quality time with people, and dancing around my kitchen cooking to some great tunes. My love for writing surfaced around the same time I discovered a pen and paper, and as I grew and experienced more of the world, my passion only grew along with me. Now, pursuing English and Psychology, I am fervent as ever to share the stories I grew up around and that resonate deeply with me and give a voice to those who deserve to be heard.

Grace Knutsen

Grace Knutsen hails from Coos Bay, Oregon. She is a third-year student at Oregon State University, studying History, French, and German. When her academic mind is not firing, music is her creative constant. You’ll often find her playing piano, enjoying the Corvallis record store scene, or incessantly reciting lyrics from 80s rock songs. She maintains that U2’s The Joshua Tree is the perfect album.

Brandon Stephenson

Hey! I’m an 18-year-old self-taught artist graphic design major that’s been participating in art my entire life. Beginning of high school I switched from traditional, paper on pencil to digital art.

Finn Johnson

Finn Johnson is a queer and trans 2nd year M.A. student in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at OSU. Finn also has a B.A. in Sexuality, Gender, and Queer Studies from Portland State University.

Jaelen Hsu

I like making things (engineered) and I’ve also always liked making things (artistic). I’m a second year at OSU in the mechanical engineering program, currently taking the year off to develop my practical skills as both an engineer and an artist. I like to rock climb, I like my cat, and I like mixing mediums between art and engineering. For me, my artwork is something I can absorb myself in when I feel overwhelmed, a way for me to express feelings, and a fun thing to do when I get bored of everything else.

McKenzie Heryford

My name is McKenzie and I am in my last term at Oregon State University. I am an English major and Writing minor, but I have taken this last term to focus on my photography skills through an Internship with OSU alumni and former National Geographic editor-in-chief Chris Johns. I actually applied and got accepted into OSU as a Studio Art major back in 2018, but I discovered my passion for literature and writing soon after and have not looked back since. Aside from photography, I write poetry, creative nonfiction, short stories, and journalistic pieces.

Ai Ana Richmond

I’m probably out in the woods mushroom hunting and nammering on about zoology. If not, I’m curled up at home with a book and my cats and some tea. That’s about all there is to me.

Kim Gardner 

I am a first-generation, non-traditional student realizing a life-long dream to acquire an education and a BA in English with a Writing Minor. I currently live in the Corvallis area (Adair Village) with my husband, youngest son, two of my grandsons, a handful of rabbits, an Australian Shepherd named Rogue, and King Charles Cavalier Spaniel puppy named Willow. I volunteer with 4-H, our local Renaissance Fair, and enjoy making cold-process artisan soap in my free time.

Ryaan Akmal

Ryaan Akmal is a second-year BioHealth Sciences student at OSU, and while he’s always been interested in literature, he hasn’t actually submitted much poetry for review. Instead, most of his public art is in the form of music released with the indie band Out of Luck, where he’s made and played the guitar parts and worked on some of the lyric writing for their 6 song EP.

Christopher McCracken

I’m a student and writer from the Willamette Valley.

Mady Gibbs

I’m a biocultural anthropology major and music minor at OSU from Umpqua, Oregon!

Abheer Singh

I’m an undergraduate transfer student majoring in Design and Innovation Management. I have an endless curiosity for all facets of design including: 2D graphics, 3D modeling, architecture, and generative/algorithmic art. My days are spent in pursuit of a deeper understanding aesthetics.

Ari Knight

I am a multimedia artist focusing on graphic design and photography. I also dabble in sculpture, ceramics, collage, painting, and much more. Outside of art, I love to hang out with my snakes, play badminton, do archery, and play in the OSU marching band.

Kyle Thompson

My name is Kyle Thompson. I am an art history major originally from Forest Grove, OR. When I started at OSU I was a psychology major. Sophomore year I dropped out of school because I was struggling with mental health. Eventually, I returned to Oregon State and decided to study what I am passionate about – art. I am very grateful to be here learning and creating every day.

Mia Tognoli

Mia Tognoli is 20 years old, and a second-year student at OSU. She is a double major in music and psychology, as well as a member of Psi Chi and OSU Divine. Mia enjoys all things creative, from writing, to art, to music, and believes creativity is an excellent form of self-expression. She loves the concept of creation as an outlet, and believes that creativity is another form of vulnerability. She is also a strong advocate for self-expression and self-exploration through creation.

Brandt Bridges

Brandt is a senior English major from Oregon who loves reading and writing over cups and cups of coffee. He sees writing as an important way we understand ourselves and those we deem to be the other, limiting the distance between us. After graduating in the Spring Brandt looks forward to teaching English in Spain and enjoying more coffee.

Eli Dodd, Isaiah Rodriguez

Eli is a senior with a major in English, and he likes walks on the beach. He wants to be a high school English teacher in order to relive his childhood trauma and gain control of it over and over again every school year, like the Fort/Da thing that Freud wrote about but for the rest of his professional life.

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Isaiah is a junior in Graphic Design. He likes walks on the beach, but not ones that Eli is a part of. His aspirations to become a graphic design major are mostly because he wants to rebel against his parents, and his parents were both successful. You can find more of his work if you ask him in person.

Aria Back

Aria is a Junior at OSU and an Ethnic Studies major. They identify as a neurodivergent, queer and non-binary person who aims to relate to others using poetry to describe their experiences. When she’s not at school, she spends too much time playing Animal Crossing, paints or sculpts, and takes care of her very sassy pet bird named Yue.

Krisona Wen

19 years old and from Gresham, Oregon

Been creating Art for as long as I could remember.

I mainly create drawings, both digitally and traditional, and paintings; but I tend to diversify myself in any kind of media whether with traditional, non traditional, or video/time media.

Casey Ward

My name is Casey Ward and I’m a senior studying Digital Communication Arts at Oregon State University Honors College. I’ve always had a passion for creativity and the arts ever since I was a little kid playing with Legos, and that took a digital form in high school when I had the privilege of taking three years of Multimedia Design classes. By the third year, we were given the creative freedom to be able to work on any project we wanted, and I learned so much about how to turn my ideas into reality. I’m really glad I’ve been able to pursue an undergraduate degree that’s pushed and developed my skills far beyond what I ever thought possible.

Juliette Saccente

I am an undergraduate studying Apparel Design. I create 2D studio art, and art has played a major role throughout my entire life. My preferences are sketching and painting, but I have also explored mediums like ceramics and digital art. I started taking art classes in middle school and I have not stopped since. I plan on using my artistic abilities to further advance my apparel design career post-graduation, but I will forever continue to make art for myself and the world.

Sheyanne Loose

Sheyanne Loose is currently enrolled in the Undergraduate Creative Writing Program. She hopes to become a novelist in the future, and possibly enter into the MFA program here at OSU to refine her craft and work as a writing instructor at the college level.

Bobby DiMarco

My name is Bobby and I am currently in my last year at Oregon State studying music technology and production. I have a billion jobs all in multi-media and I enjoy every single one of them.

Nicole Potekev

Aspiring Architectural Engineer

Part-time: judo jock

Other time: photo try-hard, pun enthusiast

Ashton Bisner

My name is Ashton Bisner and I am a graphic design major with a minor in photography. Both of my parents graduated with a graphic design degree so I have been surrounded by artsy thinkers for my entire life. I grew up in a town called Scappoose which is about 30 miles northwest of Portland, Oregon. I have been interested in photography since middle school and have been very fond of portraiture since I started.

Donovon Horst

Donovon Horst is a senior in the Graphic Design program at OSU. He has a fine arts minor, and enjoys creating art about emotions and masks. He uses watercolor, colored pencils, charcoal, and scratchboard most often.

Ridwana Rahman

Ridwana Rahman is a senior at OSU, studying graphic design, computer science, and photography. Her work primarily focuses on her relationship with home and straddling the lines of her identities.

Molly Piszczek

Molly grew up in Beaverton, OR, where she discovered her passion for portrait photography. Recently she has been experimenting more with photographing scenes as well as with film photography. When not using her camera, she likes to go backpacking in the PNW, play volleyball, and listen to music by The Vaccines.



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