Kayla Hernandez

College Experiences & Emotions, 2024

For my project I created digital illustrations that included colors that represent emotions. What I wanted to focus on specifically was emotions felt by college students. I interviewed alumni students of CSUSM to get a perspective of each of their different experiences.

My goal for this project is to bring awareness to college students’ mental health and the struggles some go through. Many students are in school full/part-time and still face all the challenges that life brings (i.e, jobs, children, emergencies, etc). 

My inspiration for this project comes from my own experience as well as my friends, co-workers and other students I have talked to. My own experience was full of ups and downs and through it all, I have overcome all the challenges that came my way and I want to let others know they are not alone. However, not all college experiences are bad. A lot of people had great experiences and are now living their life after college, beginning jobs or continuing (grad) school to achieve their goal with the degree(s) they have. I want to highlight that as well.

About the Artist

I am an aspiring artist with a passion for graphic design. I grew an interest and love for it due to the variety of types of artwork you are able to make. I have created many different types of artwork based on different themes and subject matter whether it was for an advertisement for someone else or an artwork of my own.

Something I struggle with in my artistic practice is the direction that I want to go in the future. As much as I love the variety, graphic design can give u often think about “which direction is the right one for me.

A big inspiration of mine is Frida Kahlo. One style I really enjoy doing is ‘surrealism’ and I take so much inspiration from her own artwork. When creating my own artwork, I often go through the standard process of creating rough concept sketches to jot down my ideas whether it’s a simple pen and paper or on my iPad. 

My intended audience my artwork is often for is myself and anyone. In the future, I hope to be able to create artwork for others whether it’s for personal or business. For example, I have created logos for a small business and CD covers for a friend for their songs.

I create art because I feel that it is a way to express not only myself and others, but to help express certain messages that are important to the world and to people. Some of the artwork I have created in the past had a message along with it and I have always thought it was a good way to grab viewers attention.