![Artist Spotlight: Jenna Burgess '17]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1621547660/brewsteracademyorg/y36wuknvqp7mgruplvwa/JennaBurgessArtistSpotlight.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1621547660/brewsteracademyorg/y36wuknvqp7mgruplvwa/JennaBurgessArtistSpotlight.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1621547660/brewsteracademyorg/y36wuknvqp7mgruplvwa/JennaBurgessArtistSpotlight.jpg","width":575}])
Jenna Burgess '17 recently graduated from MECA (Maine College of Art) with a BFA in Animation and Game Design. She created her final thesis, an animated short film entitled What's Left When No One Else Is Around?, with the 3D creation software suite Blender using 3D modeling and 2D animation. (And she's shared the film with us, below!)
"This film is about nourishment and personal growth," Burgess said. "It illustrates the quiet moments that you spend alone and how small actions to take care of yourself can have an enormous effect on mental health. This piece highlights what it means to be able to communicate with your true self and to figure out what really feeds you. It is also about self-care, but not about huge gestures of capitalistic self-care that you may find in a Buzzfeed article. This project speaks about the self-care of romanticizing the quiet moments in your life that are honest and mundane. It is about snoozing your alarm to have a few extra minutes in bed, or cooking yourself dinner while listening to music. It is about who you are when you do not have to be anything for anybody."
At Brewster, Burgess had a close connection to the arts, where she studied studio art, photography, stagecraft, dance, drama, and sang in the musical group HOWL. She participated in four musicals at Brewster, including The Wizard of Oz, Grease, Fiddler on the Roof, and Guys and Dolls, as well as several Coffee Houses. She won the Albert S. Munnis Award her senior year for her commitments to the arts, and also earned Gold and Silver key awards multiple years in the state-wide Scholastic Art and Writing competitions. Her interest in digital art began when her father, arts faculty member Steve Burgess, introduced her to Photoshop—from there she began to transition from traditional to digital art. At MECA she found her calling in Animation and Game Art.
Jenna's final thesis film landed her an internship with MassDigi and Deep End Games, where she will work on their game over the summer. Congratulations, Jenna!
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