Artists
NHTI Visual Arts Capstone Showroom: Spring 2026
Represented
Exhibited
Daniel Arrant
Tristan Beaudry
De'Mornay Cooper
Julia Davis
Layton Devoe
Catrin Dylingowski
KC Foss
Sylas Kenerson
Sydney Kostelak
Jesse Morrison
Mars Mosher
Alexis Spalding
Bailey Thomas
Brielle Vasilevsky
Tristan Beaudry
Artist Statement
My photography explores decay and the inevitability of time, revealing its effect on everything around us, from structures to ourselves. These compositions are of spaces that were once filled with life and energy and are now left empty and bare. From the moss and graffiti that have found their way onto these constructions to the crumbling roofs and walls on the verge of collapse, each element reveals the natural aging of what once was.
My approach with these photos was to create a capsule in time. Nothing was moved around or adjusted in the scene. I intended to make a balanced composition, capturing the lights and dark. These choices make the space feel either large, as if the viewer could step inside the image, or small and intimate, with a more claustrophobic sense of space. Added grain creates a more organic, film-like quality, and like the structures, these photos appear marked by time.
Layton Devoe
I have always been intrigued and captivated by the unfamiliar, strange, or perverse. When creating, I seek to display the ugly in the same way that I want to exemplify the truth: people are just plain weird, and there’s a form of beauty and raw emotion that exists in that weirdness. Despite their exaggerated, distorted forms, these digital illustrations explore how people can appear awkward, horrifying, or even inviting, while challenging how we perceive others based on appearance. I invite the audience to take a peek into the day-to-day lives of the subjects of my work to find where their oddities start, and their humanity ends.
Sylas Kennerson
My passion for film has always been a driving force in my work and a central source of inspiration for my craft. This body of work looks at several of my favorite films. Each image is made with different materials while remaining true to its source. The result is a collection that highlights variety and, in my humble opinion, a good sense of taste.
Catrin Dylingowski
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My whole life, I have been passionate about dance. I explore this symbolically through watercolor painting orchids, made with my own reference photographs. The rare Ballerina Orchid inspired this collection of work. Its appearance resembles a ballerina in a tutu. Orchids and dance have more in common than meets the eye. Orchids are a symbol of delicacy, beauty, elegance, and strength. These are all the things a dancer is. We must be strong, like roots in the soil, while displaying elegance, beauty, and softness like delicate petals.
Brielle Vasilevsky
Death– the thing that bonds us all– has always fascinated me. This body of work explores its interpretation across different religions and mythologies, drawing from research into Egyptian, Norse, Greek, and Slavic views of the afterlife.
Each piece responds to a different mythos, using a unique approach. I allowed the distinct qualities of each afterlife to guide my choice of medium and materials, shaping how it is visually represented.
Julia Davis
My work combines art and the art of storytelling through characters and materials. In its purest form, I create art that makes me happy. The art and the story both contain symbolic meanings that are personal to me as analogies of my own experiences. Characters and events sometimes stand in for real things that happened to me. This helps me process those things in a therapeutic way. I chose three mediums that represent my journey as an artist: drawing, sculpture, and crochet. Using all these mediums together, I’ve created an exhibition that tells the story of a prophecy that belongs to a greater world I have created.
Story Explanation:
This world is a nature-based society. The elements are very important, as are the Sun and the Moon. Both celestial bodies have claimed the elements, but the element of shadow was banished due to an imbalance. This event separated the light and the dark, and the illustrations are depicting a promise to reunite them. Each element is represented by a bug- or bird-like creature.
Sydney Kostelak
I have a passion for writing and illustrating. In this body of work, I depict scenes from my own original work of fiction. With my digital paintings, I seek to create a palpable sense of drama and story with each piece. I have used different hues in order to emphasize the raw emotions portrayed in each piece. To represent sadness, I chose dull, somber tones. The brightly colored shades are meant to characterize happiness, relief, and comfort.
Bailey Thomas
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My stop-motion short film explores the myth of ‘day two hair,’ a concept familiar to many people with curly hair. There is a lot of time and effort spent trying to get the perfect set of curls that often goes unrecognized. In a perfect world, people with curls take the time to do a hair routine that makes the curls last until the next day but for many people, myself included, that rarely happens. Because curly hair is such a big part of my life, I chose to represent this experience through a playful, colorful stop-motion piece using a variety of materials.
Jesse Morrison
Color works as both a technical and emotional tool, combining color theory with my instinct to determine what feels right. Certain combinations create tension while others soften it, and I build each piece through that push and pull. Acrylic paint gives me the freedom to move and build texture, and acrylic markers allow for precision and control. That contrast mirrors the way I think and create - fluid, but not careless.
Composed Instinct is about learning to trust my decisions as they happen. I’m interested in what happens when something isn’t fully resolved but still holds together. Instead of forcing perfection, I focus on composition. Instinct can be structured, and that control doesn’t have to limit expression. Through color, movement, and layering, I’m not trying to arrive at a final answer. Instead, I’m building a visual language that reflects both intention and impulse, working together.
Daniel Arrant
What image pops into your head if asked to visualize your favorite song? Does this scene make you happy? Does it make you cry? Maybe even bring you to a specific place? The beautiful nature of this question lies within the fact that you are the only one who can generate the emotions necessary to create what you see.
In this portfolio, I explore the visual nature of a small collection of my favorite records through self-portraits. Each photograph was captured using a black & white film camera and was traditionally developed inside a darkroom. Photographer Cindy Sherman served to greatly influence my visual reference. Her technique revolving around self-portrait was the cornerstone towards my success.
Each individual image I created took inspiration from a specific verse of a favorite song. Music is an emotional amplifier. My dad is a musician and describes writing music as “capturing raw emotion within a chapter of your life so that you can then listen to again later with a new perspective.” Regardless of the musician’s intention, you are the one who decides what any song means to you. This is what I sought to internalizing in my art. Thank you.
Alexis Spaulding
My artistic focus is on creating a single focal point that draws the viewer’s eye and helps tell the story within my paintings. I am drawn to the stories these objects can tell, and the silent narratives they embody. I invite viewers to consider how these objects connect us to both the past and present, creating a bubble of thought within the work. By using gouache, I aim to evoke a sense of nostalgia while imbuing each piece with sensitivity. This medium allows me to bring my ideas to life in a way that feels both immediate and reflective.
KC Foss
The art of becoming the character. Inspired by my original character, “OC,” in game and gameplay, I bring this figure into real life through fashion, creating an extension of my identity. This series bridges the virtual and physical, examining the duality between who I am and who I create.
Mars Mosher
"I made this sculpture with my own hands through a lot of trial and error. There were moments when I wanted to quit and choose something easier, but I kept going. This is the artist's way. Pushing through frustration and figuring out how to fix and change the work is part of the process.
Humans have been making art by hand since the dawn of time, transforming simple materials into something meaningful. This piece challenges the use of AI, which threatens to make budding artists feel like they have to be instantly perfect . One of the most beautiful things about being an artist is seeing your own improvement. You can look back at your old sketchbooks and pieces and cringe, knowing you’ve grown so much since then. This sculpture might be something I cringe at in the future, and honestly, I hope it is. That would mean I’ve continued to improve.
The reward of the artist comes from working through the hard parts of life, the lack of motivation, the frustration, the drawing when you're supposed to be paying attention in class (if that's your best work, same). I'm excited and blessed that I get to keep trying so hopefully I can cringe at this work next to future creations."
De'Mornay Cooper
My work explores themes of music and how music and identity tie into my culture. Music has
always meant a lot to me, especially Blues and Jazz. Music is a way to be free from the stress of
the world. Through expressive pieces and characters, I show others that music is moody. The
dark, dim colors give a sense of peace and stillness. I use deep colored pastels because of their
freedom and messiness, allowing me to work intuitively and express emotion more directly.
