Molly Rider '15

Portrait of an artist: Henry Austin '16

Unlike most of today’s youth, junior Henry Austin has video skills that extend far beyond Snapchat and Vine. Austin, a visual arts and economics double major who hails from Lander, Wy., has been creating short films since his senior year of high school. Although inspired and assisted by others, Austinmostly taught himself.
Although videography is one of Austin’s most refined skills, he said that he is quite adept in multiple artistic areas. He focuses on printmaking in his academic studies at Bowdoin.
Austin spent this past fall semester studying at the Studio Arts Center International in Florence, Italy. While there, Austin took courses in color photography, High Renaissance art history, creative writing and of course printmaking.
“I took a color photography class in Florence and am taking photography again this semester,” he said. “So this academic year has been an introduction to photography as a fine art as opposed to something that I just do.”
Austin’s favorite part of creating art is collaboration, which is why he is drawn especially to making films.
However, Austin said finding a common time that works for all involved parties has proved to be the most difficult aspect of completing a project. But he enjoys the challenge.
“Collaboration is the best part of art, in general,” he said. “Videography in particular requires working in teams—that’s why I’m so drawn to it.”
Austin says he approaches the process of photography and videography in the same way. “Almost everything depicted in my pieces is basically just me having fun with my friends,” said Austin.
The themes of fun and friendship can be seen by watching a few of Austin’s short films. Austin’s short film created in his sophomore year, “Burnt Decks,” depicts his childhood friend woodburning a design onto a skateboard. This short film, as well others, reveal Austin’s ear for music.
“Music selection is always a critical decision,” he said. “I shuffle through my playlist and pick a song based on what type of mood I want to convey. Sometimes, though, I will have a song and make a video for that particular song.”
Although Austin is not focused on videography from an academic standpoint, he has still been able to intertwine videography with his life at Bowdoin. He has entered two campus film festivals in the past and was recently hired by the Career Planning Center as a video intern. Clubs and individuals often contact Austin to shoot footage. Some of Austin’s photograms are currently on display in the Blythe Bickle Edwards Center for Art and Dance.
Austin said he draws inspiration from both renowned artists and his peers.“I like to view others’ work and try to imitate or capture what I liked about their method,” he said.
Austin cited Wes Anderson as his celebrity filmmaker inspiration, stating that Anderson’s refusal to compromise makes him a strong example to follow.
As for long term plans, Austin said he intends to keep his art in the picture.
“The ultimate goal is to fuse art and the process of creation with being active outdoors and exploration,” he said. “The dream job would be some sort of outdoor filmmaking.”
For now, Austin said he seems content with his focus on friends and fun.
“Any time you hit the record button with your friends around, you have nothing to lose—but everything to gain,” said Austin. “Every moment is a special moment that can easily be forgotten.”
To suggest an artist for Portrait of an Artist, email Arts & Entertainment Editor Emily Weyrauch at eweyrauc@bowdoin.edu.

Portrait of an artist: Jarred Kennedy-Loving ’15

Jarred Kennedy-Loving ’15 was not always encouraged to embrace his body. It was only after he took his first dance class with former Visiting Professor Nya McCarthy-Brown his sophomore year that he felt inspired about dancing. Now a senior, he is a gender and women’s studies major and dance minor who is completing an independent study in dance that explores identity, reflection and perception—thanks to and in spite of any and all of obstacles that stood in his way.
Coming from a lower socioeconomic background, dance wasn’t on his radar when he was growing up. When one of his foster families put him in a church production as an angel, the pastor approached him and told him boys shouldn’t wear tight clothing like his. After that experience he became self-conscious and discouraged not only about his body, but how he moved it.
“I didn’t dance that much,” said Kennedy-Loving. “But I always knew that I could.”
At Bowdoin, working with McCarthy-Brown was a turning point for him.
“She changed my life; she believed in me,” he said. “She taught me how to isolate my rib cage—I could move it like Shakira.”
In class, Kennedy-Loving liked observing how different people move and figuring out how they did it.
“I got to the class and it was like food for me,” he said. “It’s so good to see what people are coming up with.”
From these experiences, Kennedy-Loving started to think about the questions that would evolve into his independent study: How do others view us in our space? How do we interact?
But before his independent study was completely underway, Kennedy-Loving had a setback.
On February 7, he started the day breaking records with the track and field team at the Maine State Track Meet, including his personal record of 23 seconds in the 200-meter dash. He ended the day, however, in the emergency in Lewiston, Maine. While running the 400 meter race, he suffered a compound fracture in his leg.
“It was an emotional time for me,” he said. “I was in my hospital room thinking, how am I going to finish my minor?”
For Kennedy-Loving, being an athlete and a dancer work together because both demand his attention and awareness of his body in space.
“I listen to my body,” he said. “It’s more important than the beat itself.”
In addition to his experiences on the dance floor and the track, Kennedy-Loving brings another level to his personal journey with identity, reflection and perception. While he has been supported at Bowdoin, he still finds it difficult to navigate his identity as a gay black man.
“Whatever you may be, you have to find that creative truth,” said Kennedy-Loving.
For his independent study, Kennedy-Loving is choreographing a piece based on his favorite poem, “And Yea...This is a Love Poem,” by Nikki Giovanni. He emphasizes that a lot of his work is about making choices and accepting them.When choosing dancers it was important for him to emphasize that no dance experience was necessary.
“It’s ludicrous to say only certain people can move in space,” he said. Teresa Liu ’15, Adaiah Hudgins-Lopez ’18 and Christabel Fosu-Asare ’18 are dancing in this project.
When it comes to the actual choreography, Kennedy-Loving said he sees it as a collaborative effort. Throughout the process, Kennedy-Loving said he has felt inspired by his dancers and their energy.
“I have to watch these three [people] move in space to work through the choreography,” he explained.
His piece is comprised of angular movements and fluid motions that focus on the upper body as a representation of the constrained identity.
“Am I an artist? I don’t know if I’m an artist. I love movement and patterns and space and expression,” he said. “But I struggle to call myself a dancer, so I just call myself Jarred.”

Portrait of an artist

Ellen Cahill

Orient Staff

Ellen Cahill

Orient Staff

February 20, 2015

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As a visual arts major, Molly Rider ’15 has pursued everything from film to making her own furniture. She dedicates much of her time at Bowdoin to the visual arts, and plans to pursue a career in this field after graduation.

In her sophomore year, Rider began to get involved in the arts as a part of Bowdoin Artist Activists, through which she did art projects with local elementary schools.

The next year, while taking her junior year off from Bowdoin on medical leave, Rider was able to take art classes in industrial design at the University of Minnesota. She is currently working on her senior studio project.

“I am doing woodworking and photography and printmaking for my senior studio,” she said. “I have really enjoyed printing photos on wood.”
This project also includes making her own furniture.

“I just made a coffee table and some side tables,” she said. “I also made a lamp that hangs from the ceiling, which I definitely will include in my room in the future.”

Students in the senior studio class will present a project at the end of the semester.

“It is like an independent study because you make your own schedule and stick to it,” she said. “It’s great because the art department as well as local artists come critique your work so you get a lot of feedback.”

Rider has also been involved in film throughout her time at Bowdoin. She interned at a film company called By Kids the summer after her freshman year.

“They get filmmakers to go all over the world and make documentaries about kids’ lives,” she said. “They tell stories about their lives to bring relevant issues to the public that are not in the mainstream media. I did a lot of grant writing for them and met a lot of filmmakers.”

On campus, Rider is a leader of the Bowdoin Outing Club.

“I love kayaking, skiing, and rafting,” she said.
Rider’s favorite art class at Bowdoin was landscape painting with Associate Professor of Art James Mullen.

“Our assignments were more open, which pushed my painting skills and encouraged me to paint a different way,” she said. “I also got to paint more of what I liked to do.”

The projects Rider is most proud of include her Landscape Painting final project and her senior studio project.

“For Landscape Painting, I made fifteen paintings and they were fun because they were quick and very colorful,” she said. “What I am working on now, specifically bending wood, has also been really fun.”

Rider’s mother is a children’s book editor, and she loves the artwork of many illustrators her mother has worked with.

“Melissa Sweet is a local artist who is great,” she said.
In addition, Rider finds inspiration in printmaker Rick Allen’s work.
“I love his work because of the level of detail he puts into it,” she said. “He uses beautiful landscapes and includes the natural world, which I am drawn to.”
Rider plans to go abroad to New Zealand this summer to complete her last semester.
“I am taking two industrial design classes there and then considering going to graduate school for industrial design after that,” she said.

To suggest an artist for Portrait of an Artist, email Arts & Entertainment Editor Emily Weyrauch at eweyrauc@bowdoin.edu.

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