This week’s student of the week is Mary Rockcastle. Primarily a digital illustrator, Mary also makes prints, paintings, and multimedia works.

Scroll down to view a sample of her work and artist statement:

Mary Rockcastle, Mystical Grrrl Print, Relief Printmaking, Martin Mazorra

Mary Rockcastle, Trouble, Illustrative Painting, Gavin Speilman

Mary Rockcastle, Timid Creatures, Personal

Artist Statement:

My work revolves around topics of female sexuality and bending the perception of gender as a binary concept. Inspired by photographers like Francesca Woodman and Cindy Sherman, I try to incorporate their inspiring and honest self portraiture into my work while creating something more illustrative for a commercial audience. I work in a number of mediums, but mostly revolve between oil painting, digital painting, and a combination of ink and watercolor. I enjoy creating shocking or thought provoking work with soft aesthetics in order to create a vital juxtaposition that keeps me sane. My goal is to eventually to find work that combines my love for storytelling and gender studies in order to inform an audience

To see more of Mary’s work, be sure to check out her portfolio at: http://www.behance.net/maryethel.

Look out for senior student, Luis Nazario‘s wonderful illustration on the New York Times letter’s page tomorrow morning! Thank you to art director, Alexandra Zsigmond, who worked with our students on this competitive assignment, and full-time faculty member Steven Guarnaccia, for initiating the project!

This week’s student of the week is Josie Stevenson. Dealing with subtle subjects through various methods such as printmaking, drawing, and painting, Josie’s works tend to be on the edge of Fine arts and illustration.

Scroll down to view a sample of her work and artist statement:

Josie Stevenson, Jane x Josie (pages 16 – 17), Artist’s Books: Narrative, Aurora De Armendi

Josie Stevenson, Sunbathers, Thesis 1, Jordin Isip

Josie Stevenson, Holes, Sketchbook Warehouse, Mu Pan

Artist Statement:

Thematically, I’m drawn to such motifs as voyeurism, preservation and documentation. In approaching my work, my concern typically lies in conveying a sentiment or mood rather than a concrete narrative. Abstracted, textured and patterned elements all figure heavily in my illustrations. I typically work in ink, watercolor, gouache and acrylic although recently I’ve been getting into bookmaking as well.

To see more of Josie’s work, be sure to check out her website at: josiestevenson.com

This week’s student of the week is Stephanie Tan. Primarily an illustrator, Stephanie is also a painter, an animator and paper craft artist.

Scroll down to view a sample of her work and artist statement:

Stephanie Tan, Spirit Gecko, Topics, Guy Billout

Stephanie Tan, Dinner for One, Beyond the Page, Noël Claro

Stephanie Tan, Polar Bear, Core Lab 3, Richard Borge

http://vimeo.com/54979407

Artist Statement:

Stephanie Tan is an illustrator with a penchant for meticulous and repetitive work. She is greatly inspired by crafter culture, the DIY movement, and vintage nostalgia. She often turns to patterns and textiles for inspiration. She aims to convey a feeling of whimsy and wonder through the simplest use of line and color. Currently she is working on a body of paper sculptures, à la Mu Pan’s “origamu”.

To see more of Stephanie’s work, be sure to check out her website at: http://cargocollective.com/stephanietan

Illustrator Steve Brodner is hosting an event on contemporary illustration at the School of Visual Arts amphitheater on November 5th, at 7 p.m., featuring the work of some of our Parsons Illustration faculty!

Read this for more details: http://drawger.com/stevebrodner/?section=articles&article_id=14543