Artwork: “She Looks Like Fun” by Kirsten Ponticelli (ink and black acrylic paint on mixed medium paper)

Inspiration: I was inspired to create this piece in order to work through artists block, as well as create a piece that was both beautiful and strange. I love working with just ink in black and white because of the level of detail and contrast you can create.

Meaning: I hope the viewer would experience curiosity and question what beauty and goodness mean. To me, this piece is about the fascination and beauty we can find in darker ideas. Oftentimes we see things in black and white, and expect those around us to fit into our own idea of right and wrong, beautiful and ugly, good and bad. “She Looks Like Fun” is meant to express the fascinating side of what many see as taboo or abnormal.

“Solitude” by Chris Mejia (acrylic Apple Barrel paints and sharpie markers)

Inspiration: “Solitude” was inspired after a mixture of emotions, that I wasn’t able to sort out, led me to believe I had no one with me to help me out. To be honest it had no meaning first. After our lives changed due to Covid, it finally had meaning. I realized that as scary as solitude (being alone) can be, it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Spending time by myself helped me to work on myself, it gave me time to think and reflect on my values and beliefs. In the painting, you can see a whale all by itself, and even if the ocean can be a scary place, the sight of a whale jumping gracefully out of the water is beautiful. Solitude can be a beautiful thing too.