Tiffany Renken is one of the Valdosta State University ““In Situ” showcase artists, which features work from graduating Art & Design students. Renken is from Warner Robins, Georgia. Growing up an only child, Renken had difficulties relating to other people, so she gravitated toward animals; this love for animals fuels her passion for art. In high school, she liked to refurbish sunbleached ornaments and trinkets for her friends and family: and she produced some commission work. During that time, she took ceramic classes at her school and planned to study ceramics in college. While at a meet and greet at VSU, she found out about the ceramics program and the variety of clays and firing points offered and decided to attend.
College introduced her to new materials and techniques, such as charcoal, and lessons in values to better create contrast in her work. Through her drawing classes at Valdosta State, she began to develop a style based on realism, compared to the more cartoony style of her pre-college work. Another way that the university influenced her work was the contemporary art history course: this caused her to begin making some works with a message or meaning behind them. However, the most significant impact of her time here was the ceramics and printmaking sale, as Renken realized she could turn her artwork into a business.
In the show, Renken is exhibiting jewelry pieces and a ceramic sculpture. Her jewelry pieces include a wolf and a macaw copper pendant. Both pendants are silhouettes of the animals depicted; however, the macaw is a full silhouette surrounded by brass wire for details, and the wolf pendant is a silhouette with carefully cutout sections that provide the form detail. Additionally, the wolf pendant is covered in a heat patina to give it a bright orange color and then covered in a clear coat for protection. These works were done online during the COVID-19 pandemic, so all connections made are cold connections, the only heat being a frying pan to activate the color-changing patina paint mentioned earlier. Finally, she features a realistic ceramic sculpture of a red panda titled Intimidate Extinction. The piece is colored using acrylic paint and stands 18 x 12 x 7 inches. The panda is depicted in its defensive stance, in which it stands on its hind legs, raising its front legs above its head to appear larger and scare away predators. Its stance is deliberate as Renken wishes to call to attention that red pandas are critically endangered, with only 10,000 left in the wild.
Renken works in ceramic, jewelry, and painting. She prefers to work in physical media because she wants people to hold and wear art. By being able to wear art, the owner/ viewer can keep what’s dear to them close by. Ceramic objects have a permanence that she enjoys while also being functional and decorative. With painting, Renken specializes in pet portraits. She wishes to bring closure to those mourning a pet and for a pet lover to have an art piece of their best friend. Renken values quality craftsmanship most in her work, being a perfectionist herself. She finds it hard to step away from work once she’s started, fearing that the work she does won’t be as good when she comes back. After graduating, Renken plans to open her own business while still submitting work to galleries in her spare time.
Kaylin Kretzschmar is a senior planning graduate in 2023 with a B.F.A in Art Education. She’s been at Valdosta state for two years, after transferring with a A.A. in Art from College of Coastal Georgia.