Nicolette Tsamos - Historical Context

        After reviewing the art history timeline and considering what I already know from these movements, I can identify with multiple periods including the Barbizon School, Earth Art movement, etc. Specifically, my work relates to that of the Barbizon School due to the presence of landscapes and natural spaces. Our landscapes around us can be an indicator of our social and political standings, making the documentation and analysis of them important. Théodore Rousseau's The Charcoal Burner's Hut is an observational painting done en plein air that captures the image of a tree and a small hut in the distance. Documenting landscapes through painting is different from a photographic perspective where the photo is taken as a still with everything exactly depicted as real life. Through painting, the essence of a space can be conveyed without the need for exactness. This can create a sublime quality in landscapes that I find captivating. In my practice, I plan to develop my ability to capture them and use them to convey messages about the condition of our environment as well, rather than just for visual pleasure and documentation purposes.

  

Pollination Garden, Richard A. Rutkowski Park, 2024            The Charcoal Burner's Hut

Nicolette Tsamos - Art Talk with Filmmaker Sky Hopinka

        Through reading Art Talk with Filmmaker Sky Hopinka By Rebecca Sutton, I learned about Hopinkas medium of choice and his overall ideas about his artmaking process. Hopinka equips video, audio, and archival materials to create films and uses language to emphasize his message. Within his video, he seeks to develop a path of reasoning or logic for the audience to be guided by. After this is created, he questions how he can further make sense of the information he knows about his culture by using experimental elements of film and text to convey personal information without being overt. He reflects on the grammatical and phonetic patterns of Chinuk Wawa, imitating the structure of language to establish a set of boundaries that enhances his concepts of language itself, landscape, identity, mythology, and traditions of the Ho-Chunk Nation. With video, the medium allows him to remain subjective and respect the purpose of these stories and languages by interacting with the matter poetically.
        I mainly use oil paint, charcoal, and other two-dimensional mediums in my work. My process starts with an idea or message that I want to send to an audience. Then I begin to consider how this should be conveyed and who exactly my audience is. Since I mainly use images, the work will change somewhat based on my audience's understanding. I try to think of symbols and contexts that will be useful in covertly displaying my ideas and begin to sketch these concepts. Working this way helps me consider the efficacy of my work and helps me organize my thoughts to understand myself better and what I want from a certain project. I look forward to expanding what mediums I use to further emphasize my messages and reach wider audiences differently. Particularly, with three-dimensional works.

Juliette Reyes - Final presentation

For my presentation, I’ll be discussing who I am, my work, and what I’ll be pursuing next.

I’m a visual artist from Jersey City, New Jersey, currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts. My work includes a range of illustration and commission projects completed throughout Jersey City.

In Spring 2026, I will be a part of the BFA show exhibit at the NJCU Gallery, showcasing my latest work.

My portfolio focuses on character design and illustration. My career goal is to work in the animation industry as a character designer.

One project I’m currently working on is based on The Yellow Wallpaper. This project is helping me grow as a character artist and develop my design skills. I’m creating characters from the book and designing concept art as if the story were being adapted into a movie or show.

Slide show: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/186EU_YUWcYCp_1evRw-tKLXbqcUhf2a7N2Uynrz8oBc/edit?usp=sharing

Extra Credit Museum Visit - Rachel Birtwistle

 Rachel Birtwistle

Studio Research I

Professor Jung

May 3rd, 2025

Extra Credit - The Whitney Museum 

On April 18th, a friend and I visited the Whitney Museum of American Art. One of the exhibitions being promoted that weekend was Christine Sun Kim’s work titled “All Day All Night.” She dives into the dynamics of a person who is hard of hearing. She emphasizes things like the written word, body language, and symbols. The charming nature of her work is showcased with handwritten diagrams that emphasize the differences in language of people that have no problems with hearing and language of people who do have problems with it. This exhibition gives a glimpse into what it is like to use ASL and understand the importance of communication through sight and movement. This piece is exhibited both in the lobby and on the floors 3 and 8. There were also many pieces by Georgia O’Keeffe and one piece by Basquiat. One work that shocked me was “The Rose” by Jay DeFeo. It features many years of layered paint stacked in a way that resembles a flower. The impact of the painting alone is enough to make you ponder how much effort and care was put into the piece. This impact becomes more surreal after reading that it weighs almost 1000 pounds. My personal favorite from my visit was a performance piece by Alexander Calder on floor seven where he uses handmade puppets to reenact an endearing circus show. The puppets he used were also on display and it was interesting to see all their mechanics even though they were simple looking in the video. Overall, I would highly recommend the Whitney Museum of American Art if you are interested in paintings, sculptures and performances based art. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take many pictures, but I think not using my phone heightened my experience, but here’s some pictures I found on their website of the exhibits I was talking about. Also, visitors under 25 can get free admission!

“The Rose” by Jay DeFeo

“Lion Tamer, Lion and Cage” by Alexander Calder 

“Attention” by Christine Sun Kim 

Source: https://whitney.org/collection/works

NT - Final Presentation

 In developing my art practice, I have taken inspiration from artists who use various materials and methodologies to convey their perspectives on environmental and societal status to their audience. Nedko Butzev and Mark Dion have both highlighted how art can be transformative in using functional and logical connections to do so. In my thesis exhibition, I showed the series Human Interference, which includes four pieces that refer to the influence of urbanization on Hudson and Bergen county in New Jersey. Equipping a map of superfund sites along with portraits of macroinvertebrates, vital organisms whose quantity depicts the health of the body of water in which they inhabit, I asked the audience to examine their relationship with nature and our interactions. Following the completion of my BFA exhibition, I will continue developing my work with environmental studies, observing relationships between urbanization and capitalism with the quality of life for living things. For my next project, I seek to create a three-dimensional work using existing land and found objects. Exploring the impact of what we leave behind, I will use soil and discarded objects/trash to bury or “plant” objects, plant grass seeds or moss, and allow the land to grow around them, still allowing for the shapes to be visible; therefore, highlighting Earths consuming nature and how we cannot control how or where things are digested once we create and discard these objects.

 NT - Final Presentation

Cierrah Kelly:Final Presentation - Artist statement and Proposal

 To conclude, my presentation shows the variations of my skills in different media. Each piece always tells a story, has symbolism, and shows stylization from other art movements. This portfolio shows how I found myself in my work, my niche, and what I was drawn to. The more we dive into my work, the more fun and experimental it becomes, especially regarding narrative and stylization. The experimental work and style led to my decision to get my BFA.

 My BFA proposal is that I want to make 15 22x30 paper comic panels with characters that are supposed to tell a surrealist dark fantasy adventure with the purpose of overall enjoyment and to show the stylized characters with unique personalities. I have enjoyed telling stories since I was a kid, but I could never fully entrench myself in my world just by words. The media that will be used are ink and markers. With this BFA work, I want to prove that I am worthy of becoming an illustrator and have the skills and creativity to prove it. This BFA is for me, and I finally get to do what I want, have fun with drawing, and lose myself in this world I want to bring to life with the skills I have gained.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pvLV9o-FTuu0rygJgsLl9uqw9yjteCsaAsyiTenxXqw/edit?slide=id.g350875a9b63_1_48#slide=id.g350875a9b63_1_48

Final Presentation - Rachel Birtwistle

 Summary:

Rachel Birtwistle takes inspiration from many different artists and art movements from her time such as Francisco Goya, Surrealism, Robert Massin, and Constructivism. Themes often associated with her work are isolation, trauma, uncertainty, and folklore. She uses her interests, experiences, and client narratives to fuel her work. Often drawing from her own thoughts and emotions, she creates visually complex pieces that convey deeply intricate emotions leaving her viewers pondering over exactly what the message is.

Currently, she is trying to branch out from design projects that she finds comfortable in order to become the best designer she can be. She has a concept for a new project she is looking to complete during the summer of 2025 that allows her to explore more traditional layouts. This project focuses on gentrification and how luxury apartments are a contributing factor to it. The project aims to bring awareness to the situation of the rise of luxury apartments in areas of poverty. In the future, she aims to continue creating art that people can resonate with and take with them. 

Some Art Works in this Presentation are:

Red For Green: A commentary on greed, morality, and big corporations.

Soaked in Sorrow: A visual message of isolation, fear of change, and loss of time.

Vampires: A Dark Tale: A commentary on the romanticism of vampires in Hollywood and the true troubling history of their origin. 

Presentation Link: 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1eECd3tWg4KQWycSrooH0RhclUceBveqPrYf4U627Vms/edit?usp=sharing

Artist statement and bio update - Cierrah Kelly

 Bio:

Cierrah Kelly (Ceci) is an illustrator. Currently, Kelly is based in Bayonne,  New Jersey. She is an illustration major at New Jersey City University and has been studying for 4-going-on-5 years with her current scholarship. She is working on a BFA and plans to get an MFA soon in animation. Kelly fell in love with the arts as a child and has always dreamed of being a talented artist and animator. She has drawn heavy inspiration from graphic comics, eastern animation, and western animation. She wants to tell high fantasy and surreal stories in her art that are allegories of current history and political/societal climate.

Artists Statement: 

 Ceci's goal in her work is to tell fictional and surrealist stories that are allegories. These stories include symbolism and references to prior famous literature, animations, and films that she enjoyed watching and learning as a child. She has always enjoyed literature and writing as a child and telling stories; however, the writing didn’t satisfy her. Ceci never felt connected with the world she has created cause she wants to get in-depth with the character. She always wanted to show details of the characters and their emotions, from the softness of fur to the roughness of rocks. She tried to get viewers to see the characters' expressions and the disturbed creativity in her mind. Ceci can express this with her skills in drawings. 

 Ceci works with many materials, but her primary medium is ink. Inkwork is Ceci's calling; she expresses the characters and scenery with dramatic line work that goes from small and quiet to big and loud. The fine lines in her ink work are strategic and placed there for a reason. She would make multiple copies to get what she sees as perfect. Ceci tends to ink her work based on Gothic Medieval prints because she loves the fine lines, especially when it comes to cross-hatching shading. 

Ceci would Frankenstein poses, scenery, and outfits together for the creation process to get what she wants. In extreme cases, she would go onto Photoshop to mismatch photos together to get what she wants. She would draw multiple thumbnails to achieve her vision. It may be time-consuming, but her dedication to her passion makes her work hard to achieve more than what the deadlines expects.When it’s time to do the final drawing, Ceci lightly eases what she has to the point she can barely see and begins to ink on top of her work. Moving the ink pen away in a single motion, oftentimes not barely lifting the pen off the paper. She would use a weaker ink pen on its side to shade it lightly. 

Ceci continues to draw because she dreams of having her creations come to life. She wants to make an impact in art and animation, which inspired her to draw in the first place. Ceci has big dreams of being part of huge projects and creative works. That dream and aspiration inspire her to continue drawing and creating. She knows she has the skills and creative process to achieve her goals.

Post 9 - Artist Stament - Pedro Jimenez

Artist Statement


    To all the art I’ve made at one point, I usually try to capture what i see through my own eyes, I’ve always liked the idea of creation, and what comes of it. Introducing an idea to a scenario that makes me feel interested, inviting questions to my choices and curiosity. I like to put myself in the shoes of my characters and surrounded in a place that just works for them. Working with different angles, objects, and even just at times of the day. I mainly work digitally in procreate, photoshop, , I feel the most freedom when it comes to working with colors in digital illustrations with different environments, or structures.


    The why I make my art is mainly because I enjoy working with these unrealistic perspectives that make my work feel so dynamic and alive. Capturing whatever emotion I’m feeling at the moment, trying to process those feelings and understand them better, being able to look back and grow as i go on my own journey. 


    I do have a process for when it comes to making art, I kind of need to have an idea, and get inspired. Now I either start taking pictures with odd angles and start mashing them up off stuff I like, adding stuff that shouldn’t belong there, seeing what works. But I do all of that, to add more feeling to the scenery, have myself question how can I make the mix of stuff I have work, and go from there. Either working with light and shadow values that can perceive a moment trapped in time type of feeling. 


Artist bio:


    Pedro Jimenez is an Illustrator and Graphic Designer, who was born in Ecuador, and moved to Jersey City eight years ago. He is currently finishing his BFA in Illustration at NJCU. Drawing has been a significant part of Pedro's life from an early age, and was always encouraged to pursue his artistic interests. Influenced by cartoons and early animation on television, that inspiration remains evident in his work today. Pedro began his artistic journey with traditional sketching and painting, but during high school, his teachers introduced him to digital art, a turning point that opened up an entirely new direction in his creative development.

Artist Statement + Bio: Cierrah Kelly

 Artist Statement:

Cierrah Kelly, known as Ceci, is an illustrator who is known for her  traditional drawings of character designs, concept work, and storyboarding. Her character designs are quite stylized due to her basic understanding of human anatomy. Her characters are always based in high fantasy and the stories of the characters bends between high surrealism and have allegorical based plot due to the climate around her. 

 Ceci can work with a large range of art mediums, but she always prefers ink work. What inspired her to enjoy inkwork comes from various comic book and manga artists. She always takes inspiration from medieval print by the way she cross-hatch style of shading the characters and sceneries.  No matter what medium Ceci focuses on, it always goes back to inking. She finds herself in her inkwork and didn’t acknowledge her love for it until now. Inkwork makes her characters and ideas pop out more due to her being able to dramatize farcical expressions and the character’s anatomy due to her knowledge of inking and her creative way of thinking in order to make her characters pop out more due to her style of inking.

When it comes to creating, Ceci would Frankenstein poses, scenery, and outfits together to get want she wants. In some extreme cases she would go onto photoshop to mismatch photos together in order to get want she wants. She would draw multiple  thumbnails in order to achieve what she wants. It maybe time consuming but her dedication for her passion makes her work hard to have more than achieved done for deadlines. When it’s time to do the final drawing, Ceci would lightly ease what she has to the point she can barely see and began to ink on top of her work. Moving the ink pen away from in a single motion, often times not barely lifting the pen off the paper. For shading she would use a weaker ink pen and put in on it’s side and lightly shade with it. 

Ceci has quite high standards for herself and her work because she knows she can reach her full potential. No matter how many takes it would take, Ceci would make sure the work she does is up to her standards for her future clients, studios she dreams to work for, and for herself. She has a deep love for her passion ever since she was a young girl, she had come to terms as a young child that the art world for women are quite hostile and wants to make change. Especially when it comes to depiction of femininity in different forms of media. 

Bio:

Hello my name is Cierrah Kelly, but many call me Ceci. I am 23 years old and am currently living in Bayonne, New Jersey. Currently I’m working on getting my BFA from NJCU, and I aspire to learn more by going to graduate school. I dream about getting an MFA in animation due to one of my biggest dreams is becoming an animator. I have worked with a large range of art mediums from charcoal to digital, but I mostly work with ink, I always had the love for ink and most of my work contains ink work. My inspiration has always came from comic book and manga artists, I always enjoyed the ink work that comes from comic book and manga artists.

Art History-Cierrah Kelly

 The art movements I seem to follow is the "Art and Craft Movement" and "Art Nouveau". For starters I love Art Nouveau due to aestheticly pleasing color scheme, the decorative line work, and the way figures are drawn. The artwork has always resonated with and i genuinely enjoy the art pieces. The "Art and Craft Movement" I didn't realized how much I follow the principles and craftsmanship until I learn more about William Morris. Morris had a deep love for medieval manuscript/print and many of his work copy the techniques. I had also enjoyed medieval and gothic manuscript and had also created things by hand. Everytime I tired to draw on tablet/ipad, I was never comfortable nor feel like I can't do my best without that paper texture and the feel of the pen/pencil. 

Absinthe Robette By Alphonse

       The Woods Beyond The World- William Morris

Behind Those Alluring Eyes(ink)

post 7 - Guillermo Carrion

Sky Hopinka uses his medium of choice by going on a trip and taking his camera with him. When he is driving around, he'll be looking for something that he wants to shoot. He tries to be deliberate with how much video he shoots. When he starts putting things on an editing timeline, he is going through them and pulling up the clips that he likes or the things that he thinks are interesting. He uses visual manipulations and overlays enhance his work’s dreamlike, and sometimes hallucinatory effect. What inspires him to use video is how growing up in Northern Washington along the coast and then in Southern California in the desert gave him a strong appreciation for landscape, as well as how different Native people have lived in these different places.

I use pla it is a plastic 3d printers use to print., for medium it is the pla, spray paint, and fabrics, my process is to design something or find something people have made, print the item, sand it, and paint it.

My inspiration is just movie props and wanting to own those props without spending the money  it would cost to get those props from a manufacturer that will make it cost hundreds 

Post 6: Midterm Presentation - Rachel Birtwistle

Presentation Link:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1v18lUdg7oXOIvVRjCcMr7fAunzGk4uzr-SXcuarKFJo/edit?usp=sharing