Artist Statement & Bio

I am a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans illustration, singing, music, writing, and costume design. I explore themes of human equality, sensuality, spiritual identity, mythology, and pop culture, while challenging traditionally masculine-centered definitions of strength and what it means to be strong.

I graduated from Illinois State University with a degree in Acting, concentrating on Costume Design. My visual art and costume design is inspired by classic children’s book illustrators, such as John R. Neill, and multiple comic book artists. I celebrate distinctive personalities and diverse appearances through this work. My costume designs have been on stage at Playhouse Square, Cleveland Public Theatre, Theater Ninjas, BorderLight International Theatre & Fringe Festival, Talespinner Children’s Theatre, Brunswick High School, and Illinois State University. My illustrations are in private collections and have appeared in Oziana Magazine, independent comic books, and books such as My Husband is Not a Rainbow: The Brutally Awful, Hilarious Truth About Life, Love, Grief, and Loss by the writer, comic and TEDx Speaker, Kelley Lynn Shepherd, which reached #1 on Amazon's Grief & Bereavement New Releases within 24 hours of its release. My illustrations were exhibited in Artists Archives of the Western Reserve’s CONVERGE, alongside the work of 70+ LGBTQ+ Northeast Ohio Artists.

A songwriter since the age of 13, I’ve spent many years writing songs & recording simple vocal versions of them, occasionally sharing them with friends. I am currently creating a multidisciplinary project for wide release encompassing a novel and album that combine to build an Ozian world. My soft-pop sound explores connection, self worth, trauma, and emotional expression, all of which can be heard on my debut EP, Compass.

About

I have been drawing and singing since I can remember. As a child, one of my favorite things to do was draw characters from the stories that I loved, including a panoramic visual documentation of all the characters and symbols of Christmas when I was five years old. I was also enamored with the Oz books by L. Frank Baum and the accompanying illustrations by John R. Neill. I proudly carried around a Trapper Keeper covered in my drawings of Oz characters at school, even if the other kids didn’t think it was cool. I also enjoyed my mother’s taste for “Oldies” pop music, and enjoyed singing those songs too, which were also not considered cool.

As a preteen, I developed a passion for comic books and comic book art. I soaked up images like Norm Breyfogle’s Batman, Jim Balent’s Catwoman, and Wonder Woman by creators George Perez, Jill Thompson, Lee Moder, and Mike Deodato. In high school, I filled a lot of my free time by creating my own comic books and drawing my own fashion designs, themes I would return to while making art during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, I also participated in choir and musicals while also juggling private piano lessons. I began writing my own songs when I was thirteen and recording them on an old tape recorder. My best friend and I would send each other tapes of our songs through high school and when we attended separate colleges.

While attending Illinois State University, I honed my skills as a costume designer and designed the looks and costumes for plays, dance and opera, including the mainstage production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado. I stunned audiences in the Christopher Louis directed production of Bent as Greta with the song “Streets of Berlin,” which I created the melody for.

After graduating Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor's of Science in Acting, I moved to the Cleveland, Ohio area and landed work downtown in law firms while simultaneous pursuing work as an illustrator, costume, hair and makeup designer, and crafts artisan. My art adorned the wrap-around covers for the 2005 and 2009 issues of Oziana Magazine, the Official Magazine of The International Wizard of Oz Club. The 2005 issue also included a short story that I illustrated. I contributed a character design for work for The National Organization for Women (NOW). In addition, I worked with a producer of the independent SciFi thriller film, Socket, to create character designs for a comic book adaptation of the movie. I’ve provided artwork for the 2010 New York Comic Con Edition of Comedian Kevin Conn’s comic book, Lava-Roid, as well as artwork and writing for the hilariously charming independent queer superhero comic book, So Super Duper, by San Francisco writer, Brian Andersen. In 2018, I served as Illustrator and Editor to the humorous self-help book, My Husband is Not a Rainbow: The Brutally Awful, Hilarious Truth About Life, Love, Grief, and Loss by the writer, comic and TEDx Speaker, Kelley Lynn Shepherd. The book reached #1 on Amazon's Grief & Bereavement New Releases within 24 hours of its release.

In Cleveland, I’ve worked as a Costume and Makeup Designer at Playhouse Square, Cleveland Public Theatre, Theater Ninjas, BorderLight International Fringe Festival, Talespinner Children’s Theatre, Brunswick High School. I also created the costumes and co-produced artist Ray Caspio’s Uncle Toots live performances and YouTube videos.

Kevenn strives to create works that convey distinctive personalities and diverse appearances and often explores themes such as human equality and sensuality, spiritual identity, and challenging traditionally masculine-centered definitions of strength and what it means to be strong.