Artist Conversation #3

Sienna Browne is about to graduate from CSULB with her BFA. Her interests include painting from her past experiences and being a lifeguard as well! Sienna’s paintings portray her past, beginning from high school until now. She talks about how in the beginning she had a couple of ideas, but no concrete vision. As she continued her artwork, she began to see a pattern that stemmed from her eating disorder. After realizing this, she used her paintings as a form of art therapy to recover and hope to become an art teacher!

Sienna’s paintings definitely catch your eye with her vibrant colors and use of line work. She did mention that her artwork is partially abstract. The one painting that caught my attention was when she was explaining her high school paintings. There was a photo of a female with her skeletal form peeking through. The color definitely popped with its vibrancy of hot pink. It had an effect on it as though it was a photo taken with a thermal gun. The line work was had it’s purpose being places intentionally where it needed to be. Not sure how large it is in real life, but even with a small version you can’t miss out on what it is she is trying to portray. Possibly herself?

I really admire how Sienna incorporated her personal experiences into her art pieces. Initially she started off painting just because it was fun and she wanted to make things that interested others. Then she finally realized that her works of art were coming subconsciously from her eating disorder and she didn’t even notice! As you see her paintings from when she first started until now, there is a growth from her. She wasn’t afraid to hide any of the pain or frustration that she went through. In her most recent paintings she wants to celebrate her recovery and her graduation to move on to the next step in her life. Her use of colors draws the viewer in, but then when you really look at the piece it’s something more meaningful. She states that she doesn’t have just one source of inspiration, but many thoughts and ideas and she would love to help others in the future to use art to express their battles.

I can relate with Sienna in that we don’t realize we have a problem until we come face to face with it, and with Sienna I am glad she was able to essentially get saved through her art. Her paintings definitely gave me some hope that I can overcome my struggles, even if it takes a couple tries. Seeing the timeline from when she first began to where she is now is already so striking in that before our eyes we are seeing how this person is changing through life. I appreciate how she took something dark and made it into something light.