Artist Spotlight: Vada Arndt
Let me introduce you to Vada Arndt, a familiar face at USF, and one worth getting to know.
When she’s not taking naps or enjoying the wonders of nature, you can find her nestled away on the 4th floor of the Rialto in what’s known affectionately as “Vada’s Studio”. The space speaks for itself, thoughtfully cluttered with unfinished canvases, paint tubes, and various shades of blue oil swatches
You can usually find Vada somewhere in the middle of it, working on her latest project.
“I’m inspired by this space a lot” Vada said “Being around everyone, doing different things. Just being around such passion is super inspiring and helps me to create more art”
An Art and Design senior at USF, Vada balances being an RA and Vice President of SGA. She spends her time between music, coffee shops, reading, and her friends, but the studio is where most of it comes together.
Vada’s art journey began as early as kindergarten, where she would spend her days in after school art programs igniting an ever-evolving passion.
Her preferred mediums are charcoal and oil paints, where she brings together the past and present into her pieces.
“What my art portrays I think is different depending on the stage in my life” Vada continues “Right now I’m 20 something, about to graduate college, and the stresses of life are (chuckles) impending. So, I think it’s the perfect time to reflect on the things I’ve done in the past and the things that have shaped me and put me where I am today”
Vada describes her art as “changing, thoughtful; reflective," as her family plays a huge role in the stories her art tells.
“My family is one of the focal points of my reflections right now,” she says. “I experienced a lot of hard things when I was growing up and I want to use my art to address those things and get it out there in hopes to eventually move past it and accept it through my art.”
She paused for a second, then added,
“Making something beautiful from my past… to help me accept it. Also to hopefully bring a sense of relatability and intimacy and familiarity to my art.”
Taking a look around the studio, you’d notice how there’s a constant across almost everything she makes: the color blue.
“Obviously blue is supposed to evoke something,” she says. “For me blue is everywhere. It’s in the cold winter months and I’ve noticed I like to paint the winter time more.”
She gestures like she’s flipping through images in her head.
“I’ve got these old paintings and, in my mind, if it’s gonna be any color it’s gonna be blue because it’s a vintage old Polaroid and I wanna do monochrome.”
Then more simply:
“I think blue is so universal. It can be the sky or the ocean, it can be snow or a shadow. I think it’s so diverse and in everything.”
That same fluidity shows up in how she presents herself, too.
“As someone who’s nonbinary, fashion and how I present it is important to me and it changes day by day,” she says. “Each day the vibe I’m going for changes.”
“One day I can present androgynous, another day I’m wearing a dress and heels because I’m feeling very in tune with my femininity.”
Right now, she’s starting to think bigger with her work.
“One of my future projects is going to be a wooden sculpture that I will screen print and paint,” she says. “I love the idea of screen printing on things. Non paper substrate things…”
She smiled a little.
“Everything I’m going to work on in the future is hopefully going to be very large. I just love how imposing it is and I love taking up space.”
“If art is something that truly inspires you, art is everywhere,” she says. “It’s the buildings you see, the billboards, it’s music, it’s the furniture you sit on, it’s everything.”
“So, what you’re doing will make an impact in one way or another… I think you should do something because you love it. It’s as simple as that.”
If you’re looking to meet Vada, she’s probably upstairs picking out another shade of blue
