Mackenna Overholt: An Eye For Creation

*The Bend,* Oil and Acrylic on Wood Panel

*In Circles,* Oil and Acrylic on Wood Panel

*Above My Eyes,* Oil and Acrylic on Wood Panel

Artist Mackenna Overholt

Website: https://mackennaoverholtfineart.com/

Instagram: @mackennaoverholtfineart

Mackenna Overholt is a contemporary artist who finds inspiration in nature, architecture and vibrancy; her work embodies the idea of personal human experience. Overholt chooses to depict figures in the midst of balancing mental and physical challenges accompanied by a world of abstraction. She combines figural elements with the arch, showing that both are beautiful and graceful yet demonstrate incredible strength.

How did your creative journey begin?

From the very beginning I had an eye for creation. I spent my childhood in art classes, building, drawing and dancing. I honestly owe it all to my mother, as she cultivated a life that allowed for freedom and creation. She provided me with art supplies, every class I could imagine and a landscape for that creativity to flourish. However, I trace my professional artistic career all the way back to highschool. Enrolled in AP art classes, I learned the practice of an artist, themes, deadlines and what creating true meaning behind my work meant. I sold my work and entered exhibitions and shows. Moving forward, I just graduated with my BFA in Studio Art from the University of Alabama, where I feel like now, a new creative journey is just beginning.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?

My personal experiences as an artist are direct inspirations for my work. Depending on my environment, mental state, emotions, and relationships, the varying experiences that I’ve endured throughout my life are unconsciously a part of my work whether I realize it or not. I believe that as artists we have both unconscious inspirations, like I mentioned above as well as very conscious inspirations that give us the spark to create. Nature has always been a big conscious inspiration to me, and organic shapes and themes are something I enjoy incorporating in my work. In the same way, color and vibrancy is a big part of what makes art feel joyous in my life. I see the world through the lens of color, shape and line, seeing relationships between them that spark that creative ambition, and thinking “I want to try to paint that”. Travel has also always been a creative stimulation for me. Immersing myself in new cultures, histories and other artists opens my eyes to how others create and see the world, thus expanding my perspective as well.

How has your work evolved over the last few years?

Over the past few years, my work has gone through many phases of experimentation, academic frustration and variation. With the ebb and flow of inspiration, my work shifts based on new experiences, connections and hardships. As I enter into new phases of my life, I see that directly reflected in my work. I feel like my work is ever changing as I explore new mediums and techniques. Graduating from art school really allowed me to navigate new styles and truly hone in my love for oil paint. However, the element of the figure and portraiture has always been a prevalent theme that grounds my work despite the variation in changing elements.

What does a typical day in the studio look like for you, and how has your art practice grown or changed?

For a typical day in the studio, I start with some admin work, responding to emails, working on my website, social media and outreach. I usually spend a while looking for inspiration, reading art books and sketching some new ideas. I try to have multiple works in progress at once so my mind can travel between them if I ever get stuck or need something new and refreshing. I am currently really focusing on getting a lot of active painting time in, as I want to emphasize experimentation and progress in my art. My practice has shifted quite a bit after graduating from art school and starting my career as an emerging artist. In college, I painted nearly everyday and faced quite a bit of creative burnout and artist block. Now, I balance my studio time alongside my day job, working at a gallery. I’m now trying to find my style outside the pressures of academia, and balance my art practice with the tasks of running a small art business.

Which experiences have impacted your work as an artist?

As a teenager, I endured significant health issues and struggled with chronic illness. My mental health suffered and these hardships were truly a pivotal experience in my life. With my earlier work that I created during this time, you can see the unconscious reflection of my depression, anxiety and fear. My work was tense and melancholic. Once I began to get my spark back and heal from these apprehensive years, so did my work. It transformed from being dull and lifeless to vibrant and jubilant. Now, my work still carries these emotions but in a different light. My work portrays themes of overcoming hardship, strength and resilience, with emphasis on the vibrancy and joy of life.

Living and studying art in Italy was another experience that revolutionized my work. I was surrounded by some of the greatest art of all time, immersed in an artistic culture and refined my work in this environment. With these constant inspirations, my life flourished and so did my art. Themes of these experiences of traveling still manifest their way into my work as I remember the feelings of liveliness, passion and ambition that my life embodied at that time.

How has social media impacted your work?

Social media is an amazing tool for artists and has had a massive impact on my work. Not only does it allow you to further your audience but it opens your eyes to the greater art community in just one click. Social media has allowed me to connect with artists around the world and share my art amongst people outside of my inner circle. Inspiration is always at your fingertips, and a vast amount of knowledge is easily accessible. Your art career can skyrocket from social media, allowing for greater art sales and more people having access to your work. On the flipside however, social media can get dangerous really quick. With so many people having access to the same ideas, and with how much content people consume, I feel like it is really difficult to be original and unique. It feels extremely overwhelming and that “everything has already been done”, as if emerging artists have nothing new to add. While this isn’t entirely true, social media tends to create a more hostile environment full of comparison, jealousy and fear. With my work and my small social media platforms, I hope to celebrate the benefits, promote my work in an authentic way, and continue to grow my community and connections.

Which artists/art movements are your favorites? How do they impact your work?

I graduated college with a minor in art history, so connecting my work with the historical past and contemporary landscape of art has always been very important to me. I have always been drawn to vibrant colors and the line between representation and abstraction. Henri Mattisse was my first true love when it came to art and being exposed to artistic movements. I found late 19th Century and early 20th Century art movements such as Impressionism, Art Nouveau, Fauvism, and the beginnings of Abstract Expressionism to be very captivating as artists began to experiment and capture the vibrancy of the world around them in new ways. Gustav Klimt’s use of the figure and the female form is something I find myself drawing back on for inspiration constantly. These artist’s use of color, line and pattern create a story and a landscape that allows the mind to breathe and the eyes to dance. In a more contemporary sense, Jenny Saville and David Hockney are who I look to when attempting to blend abstraction and representation in a cohesive way. When thinking of my work, these artists have taught me how to create juxtaposition, how to use color to portray energy and how a painting does not need to be defined by a single characteristic or style. I think that by finding what art you're attracted to and emerging yourself in the artistic community, the little aspects of everything you like and that you find inspiring become puzzle pieces to finding your own defining style as an artist.

Victoria FryFebruary 15, 2024