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arts & culture
KANSAN.COM | MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
Your past work speaks well for you. Update your resume. Take new territory for a major revelation. A previous assumption turns out to be false. Travel later. An opportunity awaits.
Your imagination soars. Dream about how you'd like the future to go. Draw upon hidden resources, and take an educational trip. Ponder possibilities and determine which to
pursue
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
Use money to make money. Watch for hidden agendas. Discover a benefit you never thought you'd see. Friends provide an important connection. Don't get distracted by a troll. Keep your sense of
Cancer (June 21-July
When in breakdown, look for what's missing, the presence of which would make a difference. Breakthroughs are nearby. Get a new view from friends and partners. Choose from heart.
your heart.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)
Stay out of somebody else's argument. Communications can misfire. Get into a quiet, productive groove. Make long-term plans and schedule them.
Research your options.
Slow down with sharp
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept.
22)
A lucky break appears, offering big dividends.
Optimism plus effort equals cash. Get everyone on board, and determine roles to take advantage of the opportunity. Budget before spending. Strategize, and then spend.
and then move.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct.
Avoid expense and risk, with Venus opposing Mars. Keep the faith and make changes for the better. Consider tossing everything and starting over. Comfort a frustrated
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
Establish harmony at home. Get your chores done. Communication and good food go together well. Let your family know you're here for them. Clean and de-clutter for new space to create in.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-
Dec. 21)
Obstacles in the arenas of love and money slow the action. Tempers could be short. Provide patience to a situation that lacks it. A little compassion goes a
Capricorn (Dec. 22-
Jan. 19)
There's temporary confusion. Sparks could fly. Choose your battles carefully. Learn to all considerations. Some things aren't worth fussing over. Go along with what your
partner wants.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-
Feb. 18)
Make a change, and get terms in writing. New ideas don't always work the first time. Watch for hidden complications. Avoid controversy and conflict. Take a walk and consider.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March
20)
Follow through and gain status. Graduate to the next level. Advance your career by taking charge of a job that others can't. You're earning more than your pay. Contront a tricky
puzzle.
Baxter Schanze/KANSAN
Kassidee Quaranta, a junior from Manhattan, Kan., holds "The Girl and Her Stars," a book she created. Quaranta is in the Art and Design program focusing on illustration.
Illustration student Kassidee Quaranta uses cut paper art to explore her story
COURTNEY BIERMAN
@courtbierman
Kassidee Quaranta likes to be different. Her hair is almost always dyed a bright color; her arms are covered in colorful, abstract tattoos.
As an illustration student in the School of Architecture, Design and Planing; she also distinguishes herself with her art, which occupies different media. She likes to draw, paint and create movie makeup looks.
However, her favorite is cut paper work.
"It's really, really delicate," Quaranta said. "And I like making all the tiny pieces, and it looks like nothing, and then all of a sudden you put it together and you have a picture."
Many of her pieces depict "weird characters"—often a woman with long hair adorned with flowers against backdrops of skeletons or spider webs. Others are more lighthearted, such as portraits of her grandmother or scenes in nature.
For an illustration class she took with Professor Barry Fitzgerald, Quaranta created a children's book titled "The Girl and Her Stars," full of cut paper images. The story follows a "little," a daughter of the stars, trying to find her place in the world. Her parents help her along the way.
Even though the book is meant for children, Fitzgerald said it has a serious tone.
It's always just been a good release of tension and always something that I've kind of been good at."
"It was very personally driven in terms of the storyline that she was telling," Fitzgerald said. "I think she was drawing from some
Kassidee Quaranta illustration student
personal experiences. Some people do that. Not everybody does. I think hers was definitely very emotive, and I think the work challenged her."
The book is partially inspired by Quaranta's own struggles with mental illness. During her sophomore year at the University, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
She decided to take some time off from school, during which she tried to figure out what made her happy. Quaranta decided that thing was art, which, now as a junior, she has used as a coping mechanism and a means of self-expression.
"It's something that at first I was really nervous to talk about, but I'm a lot more comfortable now because it's just something I look back on whenever I'm doing my art," Quaranta said. "[When] dark thoughts [creep] in my head I always try to put [them] on paper and make it into something beautiful that
somebody can relate to and find some sort of peace in."
Quaranta said much of her work is based off her own image.
["I enjoy] taking elements of all sort of things and tying them together," she said. "It's just a lot of fun to make. Making things that look like something, but don't look like something you'd see in real life."
Growing up in Highlands Ranch, Colo., Quaranta thought she'd go into musical theatre and attend a school somewhere on the east coast. Her family moved to Manhattan, Kan., when she was still in high school.
Less than a year later, their house was hit by an EF5 tornado with wind speeds estimated at over 200 miles per hour. No one was hurt, but Quaranta decided she needed to stay closer to home. That meant no out-of-state schools and no musical theatre.
But she said she didn't struggle with the decision
because she's always loved art.
"It's always just been a good release of tension and always something that I've kind of been good at," she said. "It hasn't been too hard of a struggle. There's always something new to learn."
After she graduates next year, Quaranta isn't sure what she wants to do. Right now she's happy living with her three cats and immersing herself in the Lawrence art community. She's a frequent Final Fridays participant, where she sells and displays her cut paper work among other pieces.
"Ive always looked at doing cut paper stuff as like it's the mess that's going on inside my mind, but if you can pull it all together, you can make something beautiful," Quaranta said.
Edited by Shane Jackson
Kassidee Quaranta is an illustration major who wrote and illustrated her own children's book
Baxter Schanze/KANSAN
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