Thorne Havener

Thesis Project

As I get older, I have to come to terms with the fact that where I am at this moment, and where I may have hoped to be when I was younger, ended up being two different places. This can feel like I’m grieving for idealized versions of myself and people closest to me, and I see myself moving through a similar process as I reconcile with this. To navigate through the stages of this loss, I introduced my more vsubconscious influences by writing out letters to my past self. Then, by picking those letters apart to reconstruct them into poems to instruct their sculptural counterparts, I allow the psychology to inform the medium. Interpreting my own encounters with these themes into something tangible, where the material and imagery have as much of a metaphorical importance as the lines of each poem, felt like a full body experience. The life-scale of each piece forces us to come face-to-face with such heavy topics, the vacant faces leaving space for us to see ourselves in each gesture. The varied textures and colors in my practice work together to invoke particular reactions from seeing how the materials interact. The feelings that come with growing up and coming to terms with who we are as being so different from what we may have wanted can be difficult to articulate, but the visual realm of art opens up opportunities for the work to speak to this. Understanding the ‘why’ behind the ‘how’ of our sense of ‘who’ is just the cusp of what art can offer in healing and processing these complex issues.

Bio
Thorne Havener was born in 1994 near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The oldest of seven children, Havener often felt alone in his emotions and turned to the visual arts to express how he felt about the world around him. Following the lead of his grandmother, Havener continued to pursue his passion for creativity throughout his public school years. Drawing, painting, collage, sculpting, fashion, music, and theater were always present in his life, offering opportunities for giving him the empathetic outlook he has today.
After graduating high school, Havener attempted to progress an independent career, completing commissions and participating in art shows. Havener also dedicated much of his time to procuring the visual arts for his communities, participating in providing arts education to individuals of all ages and backgrounds. However, the commercial side of his artistic practice left the artist with a sense that something deeper was missing. After helping to initiate the ‘Art Heals’ program offered by the Donegal Substance Abuse Alliance, the artist had found the heart he felt had been missing. Havener returned to PCA&D to finish his Bachelor’s in 2020.