Charlotte, one of our EAC Interns, writes about her first day at the Art Center and artwork by Michelle Kogan:
Michelle Kogan is a female artist, writer, and instructor. While growing up in Chicago, she found, through her small garden, a love for plants and animals. She finds passion through her art studies at the Art Institute off Chicago, and continues to produce beautiful and inspiring art. This adoration for nature through art comes through thoroughly in her masterpiece She-Her-They-Them Dragonfly. Her use of mixed media with pencils and watercolors gives a sense of movement and livelihood. The simplicity of the figure centerpiece contrasts perfectly with the complex, ethereal surroundings. This piece moves me to think through my own connection to the nature around me. As human beings, we take for granted the stun nature can have on us. Alongside the figure, Kogan placed a poem. This poem speaks to the amazement to nature and, specifically, to a dragonfly. She uses words such as “compassionately,” and “resiliently,” to personify the dragonfly’s beautiful traits that we too must want and appreciate. Overall, the use of bright colors while also using pencil, Kogan's true sense of connection to flora and fauna illuminates through this piece.