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The VCFA MFA in Graphic Design Program Blog

Alumna Wendy Briggs Powell in Fresh Paint!

December 16, 2015

VCFA MFA in Graphic Design alumna Wendy Briggs Powell was just featured in Fresh Paint Magazine #10!

From the feature within:

I am interested in perception and the differences between our interior and exterior worlds. In my work, I explore processes and methods that allow me to visualize my own internal state and how I interact with the outside world.

We are all architects of our own tales and I think the stories we tell ourselves are worth examining. For me, saturating large sheets of paper in containers of dyed water, which I call watermarks, enables this examination. I see these watermarks as visual evidence of the marks I hold internally and the marks I leave externally. I investigate my own internal state and the stories I tell myself, because I think the more clearly I can understand, accept and honor myself, the more clearly I can understand, accept and honor others.

Fresh Paint Magazine featuring Wendy Briggs Powell

When I create watermarks, I am present to the act of making and to the nature of the materials. I am guiding while also allowing. When I step back and observe the results of this process, I realize I am telling myself a story of what I have created. If I look closely, my story can illuminate where I feel vulnerable, sad, joyful or conflicted. Sometimes I stitch this internal narrative into the watermarks, wrapping my story around certain visual elements while avoiding or ignoring others. I stitch in the pacing and direction of the story, as well as places where I am stuck. Sometimes there is more than one story I am telling. Other times I am cutting out areas that are too painful or that haven’t been resolved. Much like a Rorschach test, these images can mean different things to different viewers. It is my hope that the abstract shapes of these watermarks bypass the brain of the viewer and appeal to the heart.jordan release date | Nike Air Max 270