Can you tell me a bit about your concept for your senior collection?
My senior collection is about bringing light to my shadow. We are complex beings composed of both light and dark. The shadow inside is where we hide the things we don’t want to look at; the things that confuse and disgust us. Inside is where feelings fester and feast on each other, becoming unrecognizable in expanding darkness that can infest our reality from the inside out. To understand our darkness, we have to look inwards and bring the light.
Explain your emotional connection to this body of work.
This body of work is very personal; the creation of each piece was an intense period of self-discovery, spending hundreds of hours in repetitive, meditative movement, individually stringing and gluing each bead, little by little.
Tell me about how you’ve grown as an artist this year.
I have learned so much during my time here at SCAD regarding art and life in general. I am overwhelmed by the feeling of gratitude and warmth whenever I reflect upon this. I think I used to see my work as just being a way to just get stuff out of me, whatever I was feeling, whatever, but this past year I have gained more direction under the guidance of my professor Jessica Smith. I cannot accurately put into words how much this incredible woman has pushed me as an artist. At the beginning of the quarter, she said that we should think about working beyond ourselves when conceptually creating our work. For some reason, I never thought of my art being anything beyond me, but that got me thinking about how I can really try to say something with my art and start a conversion. I am growing beyond myself, growing among my cozy fibers family, filled with so many supportive, kind, creative individuals.
What was the most fulfilling part of creating your senior collection?
I think the most fulfilling part about creating this work comes from the satisfaction of being able to finish a thought, but this feels like it is just the beginning of so many more thoughts to come. Over the years, I felt so much pressure from myself to try to communicate all the existential ideas I read and learned about. I wanted to offer this perspective on the world that I had adopted from Deepak Chopra through his books, The Book of Secrets and Life After Death. These books, yoga, and meditation completely shifted my reality to one that was fuller and filled with meaning, for the first time since I experienced true gratitude for existing and being alive. I am still so marveled by this shift, the ability to feel this way.
How has your senior collection prepared you for post-grad life?
This whole year feels like I have just been figuring out the ways I want to work and where I see my work in the world. This is another question my professor tells us to think about. I wanted my work to exist as it is, to be looked at, to be thought about or not. It wasn’t until this year that I really realized I don’t have to work in the industry, even though it’s what it feels like we’re supposed to do. It’s all about finding what is right for you. I’m just figuring it out, but I am prepared to keep doing what I love so much.
If you could give one piece of advice to other Fibers majors, what would it be?
Continue being cool and cozy. Make what you want to make, and continue contributing to the truly magical, one-of-a-kind environment of Pepe hall. Experience the bliss of absolutely loving what you do with access to amazing resources. Celebrate each other’s progress, as well as your own.
Special thanks to Scarlett Thayer and her beautiful Senior Collection.
Interview conducted by Joe Tankersley.
Photography by Joe Tankersley.