Art by Trinity Sutterfield: Inspirational Artist Snapshot: Jenny Roesel Ustick

Monday, October 28, 2013

Inspirational Artist Snapshot: Jenny Roesel Ustick

Jenny Ustick. What can I say about Jenny Ustick. If any teacher has ever provided me with the best guidance, had the best understanding of my work and pushed me the furthest both visually and conceptually, it has to be Jenny. Between the two drawing classes I've taken with Jenny, we have cultivated a great relationship and she has provided me endless instruction, inspiration and resources to continue pushing my work further, so that my work is not only strong conceptually, but also technically.

Jenny currently teaches several classes at the University of Cincinnati, ranging from introductory level art studies all the way up to senior level classes, including Senior Thesis, which I have the honor of taking with her next semester. She also owns a brewery, is a working artist as well as a cancer survivor.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Trinity Sutterfield

Feminist Activist Artist from Cincinnati. I currently live in the bustling metropolis of Hebron Kentucky, but spend most of my time at The University of Cincinnati- DAAP (Design, Architecture, Art and Planning).

For many years now I have been interested in the societal beauty demands that women are faced with. My artwork takes a critical view of social and cultural issues. In my work, I explore themes like body positivity and feminism, feminism and the effects of societal beauty standards on women through many mediums including drawing, painting, photography and digital editing/painting. My work is influenced by artists as diverse as Ewan Uglow, Jenny Saville, Sandro Botticelli and William Bouguereau. I am also influenced by many writers, including blogs such as Adipositivity and Dances with Fat. Daily, women are faced with thousands of images and articles telling them that are not good enough, simply because they are not small enough. I do not believe this is true. My work celebrates the plus size body, often showing the attributes that society deems ugly or undesirable as the ideal. I aim to cause social change. It is for this reason that I call myself a feminist activist artist. As a whole my work is typically positive, celebrating the body and teaching my audience to love theirs; however it also tends to demonize society’s thin obsession. I have been focusing on this theme for nearly four years and I still hold the same fervor and passion for it that I did when I first started working with it; however my concept has matured beyond just showing that big women are beautiful to showing that all bodies are beautiful no matter their size. I tend focus on bigger women because there is more of an element of rebellion there in portraying beauty in a figure that society deems ugly or undesirable, rather than in portraying a figure that is slightly more socially acceptable because it is smaller. With my work, I aim to show the world that all bodies are beautiful not only in spite of their size but also because of their size.