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Current MIU student and 2015 BFA graduate Kenzie Wacknov knew from an early age that she was an artist. “Both of my parents are artists and encouraged me,” she says. Kenzie also credits two early mentors, ICON Gallery owner Bill Teeple and MSAE art instructor Greg Thatcher, for giving her “techniques and the space to be free and independent.”

kenzie1In 2012, Kenzie left Iowa to attend the California College of the Arts (CCA). “Everything was incredible at CCA. It’s a top school, a prestigious school, and I wanted the challenge,” she says. “I was learning a lot,” she continues, “and acquired a big tool box, but I wasn’t open to using it. I had my guard up.” Kenzie had realized that the big city was not her ideal creative environment.

After two years at CCA, Kenzie returned home to finish her BFA at MIU. Kenzie tells me how working with Art Department professor Gyan Shrosbree was instrumental in helping her open up again. Gyan encouraged her to move beyond surrealistic illustrations and narrative painting into purely abstract work. “In my mind, I thought I’d never be abstract artist,” Kenzie explains, “but Gyan insisted that an artist can take anything in life and abstract it.”

I ask Kenzie what was it in the abstract process that hooked her. “I loved the challenge,” she answers. “It’s about coming (to canvas or paper) completely without intention and allowing the painting to tell me what to do.”

Working abstractly was transformative for Kenzie, who describes her process as “starting ten paintings in the studio, moving from one to the other to give each room to breathe, and then returning to the first one.” “Abstract work is completely comfortable for me now,” she says, “I love it.”

Kenzie Wacknov

What’s next for Kenzie? “I want to teach art,” she says. MIU’s Education Department offers two undergraduate programs. Kenzie is enrolled in the secondary teacher licensure program that will lead her to an Iowa teaching license for high school art. Kenzie’s plan is to help her students develop a personal aesthetic. “Art is an open dialogue for people to express themselves. The choices we make each day affect us,” she says, “There’s pressure to conform. I want my students to know that they can develop their own identity. Even if you’re not an artist, creativity is a tool in exploring your authentic nature.”

We discuss the attraction a teaching career holds as Kenzie considers the future possibility of a family. With summers off as a chance to recharge, she feels that teaching offers her an appealing work/life balance. She also recognizes that the relationship between teacher and students is a reciprocal one where “students’ creativity can inspire and influence my work as a artist.” Kenzie completes her teaching licensure program in December 2016 and plans to student-teach the following August in Iowa.

Mo Ellis is inspired by art, issues, and progressive ideas. Mo Ellis’ online and print contributions as a writer, editor, website & mobile app project manager, PR and online media director 
have appeared at: "O" magazine, The Huffington Post, The New York Times, The Des Moines Register, Surface Design Journal, The Iowa Source, KRUU-FM, Iowa Public Radio, Dr. Mercola and Dr. Oz.