Isabel Wilson is one of two 2024-2025 Iowa State University alumni artists-in-residence at Mainframe Studios in Des Moines. Offered through a partnership between the Department of Art and Visual Culture and Mainframe Studios, the year-long residencies provide studio space to recent graduates of the BFA or MFA programs who are selected by art and visual culture faculty through an application process. Join Wilson for this artist talk about her experiences during the residency program!

Wilson received her BFA in integrated studio arts from Iowa State in 2024. She focuses primarily on representative compositions in charcoal and watercolor. She also creates found-image collages to explore themes such as emotion and self-image.

Wilson will exhibit her work concurrently with fellow artist-in-residence Audrey Stirling (BFA 2023 Integrated Studio Arts) from March 7–25 (reception from 5–8 p.m. March 7) in the third-floor gallery at Mainframe Studios. Her show, “Reflecting on…”, will feature work in a variety of mediums that expresses Wilson’s feelings about her experiences of the transition to womanhood. While the work has a strong focus on her own self-image, it incorporates universal themes related to young women in this stage of their lives.