Since her childhood, senior Phoebe Stranahan has been creating. Now on her way to Pratt Institute in New York, Stranahan has no plans to stop.
“I’ve made art forever. When I was six, I did sewing classes, and I was always making things,” Stranahan said, “I moved a lot, but I always kind of had my own space to make art and be messy.” Middle school was when Stranahan began to seriously think about art as a path. To foster this interest, Stranahan transferred from Parker to the Interlochen Academy for the Arts for her freshman and sophomore year. “When I went to boarding school, it really changed my art,” Stranahan said. According to Stranahan’s close friend Zion Wallace, her art changed her boarding school as well. “She has inspired me to chase my goals as well as be consistent with my art,” Wallace said. Second semester freshman year, Stranahan was placed in a metals class, launching her passion for working with her hands rather than drawing or painting. “When I went to Interlochen, I learned that there were actually so many more mediums that I’m interested in,” Stranahan said.
Stranahan works across a variety of mediums, such as metal and sewing. “I work in metal, and I find a lot of inspiration from things like iron gates and armor,” Stranahan said, “I went to a cathedral last summer and took photos of gates, and that translated into a cuff I made.” Another highlight from Stranahan’s portfolio is a tooth ring, as well as new experiments in leather. “I describe my pieces as wearable sculptures. They’re not meant to be worn every day,” Stranahan said. Themes from her work include making the impermanent permanent and generations. “My art builds on itself,” Stranahan said.
For Stranahan, the first step to a project is the idea. “I have so many things I want to make and things I’ve been meaning to make for a while,” Stranahan said. Stranahan describes seeing a certain project in her head, and using her art to make it real. “At art school, they make you sketch everything a hundred times, but I have stopped doing that. I don’t sketch anything,” Stranahan said. Instead of sketching, Stranahan typically bullet points about the project before she begins. When she works in metal, Stranahan uses wax casting, where fragile wax melts into a metal piece. She plays around with sculpting, with projects often requiring a trial and error process. “Phoebe is doing something that I’ve never seen in person before,” junior Jordan Drisdell said.
On the other hand, while sewing, Stranahan has to be more technical with measurements and patterns before she begins. Once the piece is near done, Stranahan has a feeling for when it’s complete. “Part of the process is staring at it for twenty hours,” Stranahan said. “I feel like it’s finished when I’m done with it.”
During her junior year, Stranahan had trouble finding a balance with art and her schoolwork. “I didn’t have time my junior year. It’s not a good feeling to have so many ideas and to not actually do them,” Stranahan said. Academics were a “next step” to continue her art journey. After working on her portfolio for college throughout the summer, Stranahan has big ideas to come.
Even though her senior year is coming to a close, Stranahan won’t stop over the summer. “I have ideas for a zine, cool photos of people wearing my stuff, a video, a website,” Stranahan said. Some other goals Stranahan has are having her sister model, camcorders, film photos, and networking in New York.
Whether it’s on Instagram or worn at graduation, Stranahan’s art is always present in her life, and the lives of people around her. “I want my art to stick with people. I want people to be able to step into my art and feel the feeling I was trying to create,” Stranahan said.
