Arkansas artist Kasten McClellan Searles will have her exhibit, “PAINT / PIXELS,” on display in the Stephens Gallery at University of the Ozarks through May 9, 2024, as part of the University’s Artist of the Month Series.
There will be a reception to meet the artist from 6-7 p.m. on April 11 in the gallery, which is located in the Walton Fine Art Center.
Searles serves as the head of the art department at Arkansas Tech University where she teaches illustration, design, and studio art. She is an illustrator, painter, and educator who creates visual and narrative art.
She is known for her works of illustration and painting that highlight extraordinary moments and stories from the ordinary world. Her work is exhibited widely, and she was granted an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Arkansas Arts Council for her narrative art. Her illustrations have been published in magazines, reviewed by the Huffington Post, and appeared on the cover of the Arkansas Times.
Searles called herself an “interdisciplinary visual artist whose work investigates real life moments and settings with painting and reportage illustration.”
“My practice is driven by curiosity and grows from a desire to document fragments of our human experience that often go unseen,” she said. “My methods are both traditional and digital, often incorporating ink, watercolor, gouache, and digital drawing techniques. I am drawn to make this work because I believe that painting and illustration have a unique ability to isolate and draw attention to subjects that may otherwise be overlooked.”
Searles received her BFA in design from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, and her MA and MFA in painting from the University of Dallas.
Topics: Art