“To me, each piece tells a story and each character has a background,” she shared her feelings about her own work with ArtFile Magazine. “They’re inspired by the whimsical nature of youth, nostalgia for those wasted hours, but also the utter boredom and angst of teenage years.”

Van Maurik seems to have a good and personal knowledge of said angst: “My subjects are trapped in a heartbreaking daydream, their flaws are amplified, nothing is too beautiful except for the whirlwind of colour and summer in the air. That after school bliss that leads to mischief and wandering. That’s where they live. It definitely comes from experiences in my own youth.”

Where Van Maurik’s art seems to shine most is with her use of strong, bright, sometimes cotton-candy-like colors. The purple and light-blue patches she adds to her heroines’ faces is like a neon sign declaring “Not a conventional beauty!”. But by doing so, she opens the door for the beauty of authentic memory of a time that, though flawed, we deeply cherish.

The post Shanna Van Maurik Captures Teen Angst Using Cotton-Candy Colors appeared first on MobiSpirit.

“To me, each piece tells a story and each character has a background,” she shared her feelings about her own work with ArtFile Magazine. “They’re inspired by the whimsical nature of youth, nostalgia for those wasted hours, but also the utter boredom and angst of teenage years.”

Van Maurik seems to have a good and personal knowledge of said angst: “My subjects are trapped in a heartbreaking daydream, their flaws are amplified, nothing is too beautiful except for the whirlwind of colour and summer in the air. That after school bliss that leads to mischief and wandering. That’s where they live. It definitely comes from experiences in my own youth.”

Where Van Maurik’s art seems to shine most is with her use of strong, bright, sometimes cotton-candy-like colors. The purple and light-blue patches she adds to her heroines’ faces is like a neon sign declaring “Not a conventional beauty!”. But by doing so, she opens the door for the beauty of authentic memory of a time that, though flawed, we deeply cherish.

The post Shanna Van Maurik Captures Teen Angst Using Cotton-Candy Colors appeared first on MobiSpirit.