By Nyasha Ortiz
Meet Gabrielle Fogarty, a local of Valdosta, who shared her thoughts on her art during the Valdosta State Senior exhibition. She stated that she has an idealized version of what she wants her art to be, which is perhaps more illustrative. When creating her art, she uses shapes and color palettes to vividly illustrate the concept of togetherness by delving into her past experiences and memories. Fogarty is graduating from Valdosta State University this May 2024 and is pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art with a minor in Psychology. Like all her Senior peers, she has had the pressure of balancing school life and mastering the creation of her art in perfect unison. For Fogarty, she ties the two worlds of everyday life and memories to her art. She followed her dreams of applying to the Disney college program in the Fall of 2021 and getting accepted. The Disney College Program is a prestigious internship program offered by the Walt Disney Company, which provides participants with the unique opportunity to work and learn at one of Disney’s theme parks or resorts. For her, this meant working as an attraction cast member at Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and fully immersing herself in the world of Disney. As part of the program, she gained valuable hands-on experience in guest relations, entertainment, and park operations while also participating in educational and professional development activities tailored to her role. This experience helped her transform from a shy, nervous girl to a “better version of myself that I am today in a year’s difference,” as Fogarty puts it.
As she embarked on her journey of personal growth and explored new experiences in the Disney College program, taking on the role of an attraction cast member at Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, she prioritized building connections with others instead of solely immersing herself in art creation. She claims “I enjoyed not having to stress about making art for a grade, but rather picked up collaging because it was portable with very little usage of supplies.” Finding it often hard to make friends and adjusting to such change, collaging was an escape from everyday struggles. It eased her mind, bridging the gap of distance from everything she knew, and led her to the realization that while she enjoys solitude, she also cherishes the simple joys in life, particularly family. Now while her experiences may have impacted her life, it sure didn’t fry away from impacting her art. Her interest in color, collaging, and memory shines through. Inspired by hardship to depict ‘pretty things,’ Japanese Anime art, past experiences, happy moments, and memories are illustrated through her various aesthetic interpretations.
When asked what inspires her creation of Memorial Art—an art form designed to honor a particular individual or commemorate a specific event—she mentioned Zeka Designs, a renowned graphic design and brand identity agency. This creative, graphic inspiration started her exploration of color and overlays, opening a blind eye to a world of bright and bold designs that were later brought into her works. Like her pieces, such as Blossom & Glow, which is quoted as ‘one of her most favorite works’ out of her collection, Blossom highlights Fogarty’s memory of her first concert, her favorite childhood band ‘ONE OK ROCK,’ whom she got the opportunity to meet and take a photo with during her time at the Disney College Program. Meanwhile, Glow signifies her first experience of going to a concert alone, which was a pivotal part of her growth as a person.
Alongside key memories, music plays a vital part in Fogarty’s art-making process, as she states, “Music has always been something I listen to while I make art, and that influences my art. So now it draws me to the question of how do I incorporate that more within my art.”As she leads into her second favorite collection, The Imperfect Completion, featuring a screen print made of paper and resin, she continues by adding, “There was no thought behind this piece, I chose it because I like the band but I wanted to show a more simplistic color palette that I felt fit the band’s mood and the songs in a simple yet sleek way!”
When asked about the content of the show and her thoughts on the exhibition, Fogarty responded, “As a whole, the show went extremely well!” She complimented her peers for their talents and diversity of themes. She explained that each artist represented their work in their own way and that it truly highlighted each artist’s unique perspective. “Even though it’s very broad, we all have very similar underlying themes, even if you don’t look at it and think,” she said. The theme of memory was seen throughout all the pieces in the exhibition. As Fogarty has been closely working with each of these artists throughout her time at Valdosta State, she felt that the exhibition was a great success.
Overall Fogarty defines success as “creating art from her core memories and telling a story through her perspective, rather than creating art based on other people’s interpretations or viewpoints.” After graduation, she aims to expand her career into more product design for album covers and band merchandise. She is also looking into seeking internships while saving up for a trip to Japan. Overall, Fogarty wants to take more time exploring her work and developing future series within the theme of memory and the sense of togetherness.