2020 Senior Exhibition Artists

Jackie Audet

Art + Design: Illustration

Biography

Jackie Audet is a Senior Illustration Major at UMass Dartmouth’s CVPA. After graduating from Diman Regional’s Graphic Communications program in 2016, she originally came to UMass to pursue Animation and Game Design, but had a change of heart at the end of her freshman year. Jackie has an interest in animated films and television, comic and cartoon art, and children’s media. She hopes to become a children’s book illustrator after finishing her degree. In her spare time, Jackie enjoys acting, singing, playing guitar, and collecting enamel pins. Thanks for reading!

Statement

When I was a child, I had a very active imagination. While this was a wonderful thing to have at a young age, my imagination came with lots of different fears and anxieties. I often had nightmares about creatures and other things that I did not understand. Even now as an adult, my dreams are very vivid and childlike, which I suppose is evident in my art style. But in order to get where I am today, I was forced to confront these childhood anxieties and learn to deal with them. In doing so, I have formed an attachment to the non-human, including animals, cryptids, and, as seen in my thesis, monsters.

My digitally illustrated children’s book entitled Monsters You May Meet, explores the capacity of the imagination of a child. While it can be used to create frightening images and nightmares, these fears can be shaped and bent into new creations that are less frightful, and much more playful, friendly, and beautiful. I created this book for children who are similar to how I was at that age, who may have been afraid of what awaited in the dark.

The book was created by taking pen-and-ink drawings, digitally tracing and coloring them, and putting them in simple digital environments. I intentionally kept everything soft, loose, and fun. The goal was to create dynamic and fun images, while keeping them in a style that is not too frightening for children.

I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it!