Annelise Matthiesen
Contributing Writer
Monk Monk, a portrait of Abbie Holloway (C’ 25) ’s childhood stuffed monkey brought to life with gouache and colored pencils, is the piece that she is most proud of. She’s happy with Monk Monk because of the piece’s success in helping others feel the emotion and nostalgia she was working to convey. “It’s more of a loss of childhood than looking back fondly,” HollowayAbbie reflects on Monk Monk’s symbolism. “It’s like, oh, I really miss this time of my life.”
Holloway is a senior Art major and theater minor at the University of the South. A Chattanooga native, she enjoys working at the Children’s Center, taking screenwriting and playwriting classes, and serving as President of her sorority: Alpha Tau Zeta (ATZ). Her time studying art in Sewanee has been a formative, intellectually enriching experience.
On the mountain, her art has transformed from something she loves making for fun into something deeper. Abbie experienced her first formal artistic instruction through Sewanee’s Intro to Painting class. Now, after nearly four years of formal instruction at Sewanee, not only does Abbie still love working with her favorite mediums, which include colored pencils, graphite, paint, and gouache, but her pieces are filled with attention, critical thought, and meaning.
Currently, Abbie is taking a Senior Seminar, a course where she is writing her thesis paper, determining the goals behind her pieces, and preparing an artist talk. She’s also writing her artist statement, a concise summary of the context of her art and what it works to achieve, and she’s working on some subjective paintings, which she described as being “more technical than artistic.” Speaking on her experience creating technical versus loose, more imaginative art, Abbie explained that finding a balance between the two is essential because “total freedom is overwhelming, but the total structure is confining.”
In Senior Seminar, Abbie has more freedom to choose what she wants to create. Still, ART 352, her favorite Sewanee art course, strikes an especially beneficial balance for her between creativity and technical applications. In ART 352, Abbie enjoyed how open-ended prompts offered guidance and independence while encouraging an environment of artistic diversity. Abbie said that because painting and drawing students participate in the course, “the class’s variety kept it fresh, and the work that came out was always so different.”
Abbie describes the workshopping process in Sewanee art classes as “collaborative” because of the emphasis on peer feedback and assessing what works well and what has room for growth in a given piece. She also notes that there’s much more to the art major, or any creative medium for that matter than one might expect. “I feel like there’s a common misconception that being an art major is easy,” she said. “That is very much not the case. It is a very time-consuming major. If you don’t put the time and effort into a piece of art, it’s going to show. There’s no beating around the bush. It’s a vulnerable major, especially when you are very passionate about what you create.”
Abbie also discusses how the shared joys and frustrations of artistic expression help bind together a close community of peers. “My favorite part of being an art major is by far the studio environment and the relationships that you build with your fellow art majors,” she said. “It’s like one in the morning, and you and five other people are working on the same project, and you’re like, I don’t know what to do; I feel so lost, but we’re all helping each other like ‘I think you’re doing this really well,’ ‘keep going you’ve got this,’ or ‘here’s something you could do a little better.’”
For her artwork, Abbie draws inspiration not only from her peers’ feedback but also from two of her favorite artists, painter Beatrix Potter and illustrator Maurice Sendak. She especially appreciates Potter’s Peter Rabbit artwork. Abbie was also inspired by her godmother, an art teacher. “She was very involved in my life and made me want to pursue art because I just loved the stuff that she made, and she was always very encouraging,” Abbie recalled warmly. “She passed away when I was fourteen, and I do wish she could see the work I’m doing, but I also know that she’s proud of me.”
Looking into the next season of her life, Abbie already has exciting plans. This coming semester, she plans to begin writing and illustrating a children’s book. “I don’t think it’s plausible to finish it in one semester, but at least to get the ball rolling and to get started is my goal,” she said. Following graduation, Abbie plans to work as an art teacher or an art educator through a children’s program, though she weighs her options.
She advised future Sewanee Art majors to “keep your options open.” “We have many mediums at the University of the South,” Abbie continued. “We have photography. We have video. We have sculpture. We have drawing. We have painting. We have collage. You may be surprised by what your chosen medium might be. Keep your eyes and heart open to change.”
It will be exciting to see where the refreshing mindset, gifts, and passion that Abbie Holloway has brought to our University’s Art major will take her next.