University of Redlands
BIO
Adriana is a double concentration in the Art Department at the University of Redlands. She is also receiving a third degree in Media Visual Culture Studies. Adriana has always been involved in the arts in some way, but her love for photography really solidified as she entered high school. She picked up her first camera, a Minolta Maxxum 7000, riddled with dust and memories of a former journalist, and set off on her own adventure as an artist. Shortly after Adriana began college, her freelance career began shooting branded work for companies such as Anthropologie, NaturalLife, and YesTo Skincare. On the University of Redlands campus, she has been the ASUR Graphic Designer as well as the Marketing Assistant for our bulldog mascot, Addie. Adriana is also a member of the Delta Kappa Psi Sorority.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My design style could be described as dreamlike, vintage and tangible as it mixes a lot of analog processes with digital. I have never been a designer without being a photographer first, so allowing myself to expand from exclusively commercial work into fine art has opened many new doors for me. I express myself through not only my artwork, but through my words. I do not remember a time before writing poetry and prose every single day for my own personal release. I never contemplated using those writings as a start for my creative projects, but over this last year of lots of experimental growth, I see no other path forward. I have proved to myself to be a successful commercial photographer, but now is my time to push my limits and create in my own style. I will go to graduate school for an MFA in photography. After that, to move down the pathway of a PhD in creative writing if it is still the forefront of my creative experience.
DESCRIPTION OF WORK
"When Things Didn't Feel Real" focuses on the tiny, almost metaphysical moments in everyday life. Everything mundane is riddled with beauty, though sometimes in the chaos of existing we forget to acknowledge it, let alone process it. Many grappling with an internal struggle of mental illness note that their lens to the outside world becomes distorted in strange ways. Sometimes for me when things didn't fee real, I had been writing love notes on familiar beaches to the waves at 2am, running barefoot on hot asphalt through the desert, or staring into the open grave of a loved one. The highs and lows will never change the contemplation of exactly why we are here.
