Angst and Ambition

Both artists and teens often question the world around them and challenge the status quo. Teenage years are categorized by emotion and hormonal turbulence, and as French artist Paul Cezanne once said, “A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art.”

Generation Z, given its ready access to information and what many perceive as their deep concern for social and political issues, may launch its own renaissance.

“I am inclined toward this edgy, rebellious shock value,” Sean Collins said. “Not to be distasteful with it, but to toe the line as hard as I can. That’s a very teenagerly thing to do.”

An 18-year-old artist and recent graduate of Leon High School, Collins was among the senior portfolio winners in the 2023 Mahaska Whitley Student Exhibition at LeMoyne Arts. Collins’ work is technically proficient, provocative and rooted in the experiences of teens today.

The annual Mahaska Whitley Student Exhibition encourages aspiring artists to continue developing their skills. Founded in 1988 by esteemed former Leon High School art teacher and art department director Mahaska Whitley, the exhibition invites high school students from across Leon County to submit their work to a blind review panel. Submissions are displayed in the LeMoyne Arts gallery, and winners receive scholarship money and other prizes for their work.

Collins’ winning submission, Consecration of Rot, examines religious art that is foundational to Catholic teachings. Those paintings, statues and stained glass pieces, Collins said, were often as grotesque and violent as they were beautiful.

Sean Collins and Consecration of Rot, a piece submitted to the 2023 Mahaska Whitley Student Exhibition at LeMoyne Arts. Photo by Bob O’Lary Courtesy of LeMoyne Arts

“At the front of the church is a man being crucified,” Collins said. “It’s a very visceral image to a young person. It feels like people are not seeing the same thing you are. There is a gravity to it that people are desensitized to.

“As I have grown away from the church in my personal life and development, I have felt the need to reincorporate that into my art.”

Annabelle Goddard, another senior portfolio winner and recent Leon High grad, usually works with a vibrant color palette. But for Andromeda, Goddard worked in ink, using the high-contrast medium to explore a topic often viewed in black and white.

“I really want to explore the feeling of not really knowing how to fit intotoday’s society,” Goddard said. “Everything is so up in flames. Everyone has a different opinion. Everyone has different feelings. I want to explore that, explore androgyny and all these things that people are dealing with and struggling with, including myself. I’m going to channel my pain into art.”

Annabelle Goddard and Andromeda. Photo by Bob O’Lary Courtesy of LeMoyne Arts

Goddard was initially hesitant to explore those themes on such a public platform.

“I want people to understand and relate to how I feel,” Goddard said. “I’d rather put all the feelings I have about what is going on and what others feel out there and try to create an understanding.”

Both Collins and Goddard use digital tools to create their art, but both plan to explore traditional approaches as they continue their art education and careers. Collins finds that working with digital tools feels like a compromise. For now, it’s a bridge to oils and other media.

“Technology and art colliding has increased access, which is fantastic,” Collins said. “With increased access comes a greater supply, and with a greater supply comes a lower value, and that’s OK. … Wide, broad, unhindered access to technology, art and the means of creation is fantastic. Unfortunately, as the internet has cheapened virtually everything, no pun intended, it has also cheapened art.”

AI art, including images generated by artificial intelligence engines such as ChatGPT, presents additional issues. For the creative community, this new technology is both practically and existentially threatening.

AI art can be produced instantaneously at little cost, thus posing a direct financial threat to working artists. It has also been widely criticized because it relies on existing artwork to generate new images or combinations of images. The artists who created the images that AI builds upon go uncompensated and unacknowledged.

Nonetheless, Goddard and Collins are committed to their passions. Their days working at LeMoyne inspire plans and dreams of fine art education. They are finding their places in the world and learning new ways to share their journeys through art.

From left, Annabelle Goddard, Citlali Patino, Sean Collins and Leon High School art teacher Sarah Raulerson. Photo by Bob O’Lary Courtesy of LeMoyne Arts