Three Rivers Community College is proud to present the first in a set of three “Visual Fine Arts Graduates Exhibitions” featuring the work of 2020 and 2021 graduating students. The Visual Fine Arts, A.A., provides a strong foundation in the visual arts and a broad background in general education. As a transfer-oriented course of study, it often leads to enrollment in an art school or other baccalaureate institution.

View the work of  MacKenzie Gaulin ’20 below or click to view the work of Jennifer Guilbe ’21 and Ian Thompson ’20.

MacKenzie Gaulin ’20

Artist Statement

Flesh created by faint, beautiful colors and undertones are my favorite subjects to paint. There is something so unnatural about the nature of human bodies that makes them so fascinating to me. I come from a family full of different types of artists, so I grew up surrounded by paintings of exaggerated bodies and impressionistic landscapes all over our walls that I would stare at endlessly in an attempt to figure them out. But I mostly love the process, all the time in between an empty canvas and the finished piece and I am convinced that’s why I can never walk away from a painting session without paint all over me, and the amount of half-done paintings stored away in my attic. Funny enough though is all of the paintings I have left half finished to collect dust never to be seen by eyes other than my own are my favorites. There is something about the canvas showing through the underpaintings and the partially developed skin tones and backgrounds that really inspires me to make more. So I start a piece and sit and work for four to six hours and when I call it a day I store it in that attic to never come out to see the light of day again, because that piece inspired me to start the next piece. And that is my process.

Photo of Exhibition 

Work