Thea Frandson’s Artist Statement
Seeing virtually every item as an art material just waiting to be explored, Thea (also known as Tanner) Frandson has been consciously and slowly perfecting their art skills since third grade. However, they were drawn to more rudimentary media—pencil and crayon—from a very early age. They constantly explore the middle school art room and dig through their mom’s art studio in Jefferson, Wisconsin. Thea is known to create robots out of cardboard, dogs from felt and wire, and will paint just about any surface that isn’t moving (and probably some that are). During the pandemic, Thea experimented with a variety of media and took several art classes via Outschool; their favorite was a Basquiat class. As Thea becomes more self-aware and emotionally intelligent, their art exploration deepens. Recently, they transmuted their grief surrounding a family member’s passing into a graphite portrait; their family’s emotional reaction to this piece showed Thea that art can be healing for both the creator and the viewer.
In both fifth and sixth grade, Thea’s art was included in the Ernie Pope Art Show, which meant it was displayed in a storefront in downtown Fort Atkinson for several weeks. In seventh grade, Thea was accepted into their school’s Accelerated Art program, a two-year cohort that will allow them to take higher-level art classes when they begin high school. Thea looks forward to the next art class they can sign up for and the next new medium they stumble across.
