Bantam Artist of the Week: Morgan Hallows '19

Erin Gannon ’19
A&E Editor
For any artist, the pieces they create often serve as a window through which they invite the rest of the world to view their reality. That sense of relativity and individual perspective are two components central to the work of this week’s Bantam Artist, Morgan Hallow ’19, whose portraits capture her unique interpretation of the people in her life.
A Charlotte, North Carolina native, Hallow at- tended St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, Delaware where her painting hobby was born and fostered. “I had a strong art program at my high school,” she said. “I just took classes for fun.”

“I mostly paint portraits of people,” Hallow explained. “It’s fascinating how changing a few lines can m

Courtesy of Morgan Hallow. Hallow often paints portraits of people in her life, like her family. — COURTESY OF Morgan Hallow. Hallow often paints portraits of people in her life, like her family.

ake a face look entirely different.” “I primarily use water based paints, but sometimes I use Conté,” she noted. Conté, sometimes known as Conté sticks or crayons, are a drawing medium made of graphite or char- coal mixed with wax or clay Hallow was inspired early on by Chuck Closes’ realistic portraits, but more recently has been influenced by the portraits of Alice Neel. “Neel’s portraits and, more specifically, her choices in lights and darks, have influenced me a lot recently,” Hallow said. “I’m not a huge art history fan so I don’t know of that many artists. A lot of what I do just comes from me.”

At Trinity, Hallow is a member of the women’s basketball team and is leaning towards a major in Philosophy. She has chosen not to study art, and that decision was influenced by a number of factors. Most notably, “I would love to do portraits of people as a career, but I don’t think that would be easy to live off of. So it’s mostly a hobby.”

Her most recent paint- ing, and incidentally the one that she is proudest of, is a portrait of a friend’s baby, pictured at right, which Hallow start- ed over the summer. “I took more time with it be- cause the baby’s skin is so fair that she has some crazy undertones,” she said. When Hallow reflects on her growth as an artist, she notes that perspective has played a major role in her work. “When I started I was horrible,” she joked. “I genuinely think that anyone is capable of being at least a half-decent artist if they’re taught how to look at things differently.