Hi! My name is Isabella. I grew up in Germany. High School: Platte County R3 High school (Missouri). I went to HCC and LCC. If I was an artist's tool, I'd be An Acrylic Paint Marker.
This capstone looks into what friendships and close connections feel like today. By talking to people about their personal experiences, it explores how they view the quality of their relationships—what makes them feel close to someone, what gets in the way, and how they decide if a connection is meaningful or not. As life gets busier and more online, this project tries to understand how people are navigating their friendships and what “real connection” means to them now.
The concept of creativity has come a long way. The Old Greeks would call those creative forces muses, other religions referred to them as God. Today people still mostly treat creativity as an aha moment outside the area of influence. However, just by looking at the creative process one can tell, that creativity and creative work is more than just that one "Aha-Moment" (insight). It is clear that generating ideas demands planning and preparation, identifying something of interest like a problem, an opportunity or a challenge, doing research. This then leads to thinking of a solution, allowing time to incubate and iterations before arriving at something “complete.” Students learn that hard work is what makes their ideas come to life and sticktuiveness is what helps them get better.
Isabella turned art into outreach with a project that invited anyone—friend or stranger—to receive a self-portrait, using creativity as a bridge to deeper human connection. Inspired by her research on the evolving nature of friendships in a fast-paced, digital world, Isabella challenged the idea that meaningful relationships must come from long-standing bonds. By offering portraits as a gesture of presence and care, she explored what it means to truly see and be seen—beyond the screen, beyond the inner circle.
Face to face, heart to heart. Isabella draws connection.