Ohio State senior Kasmira Snyder is using her art to spark conversations around the issues women face in society.

Snyder, a self-described representational oil painter, uses her art as a tool for women to share their experiences. This includes issues that she is facing – often reflected by her being the subject of her paintings - or has seen others go through.

“A lot of it involves being in commune with my fellow students, picking their brains on stuff and asking them hypothetical questions,” she said. “A lot of us will read certain things and talk about it, and I think that fuels a lot of my work thinking about different experiences either that my friends are having or that I'm having.”

Much of her current work focuses on painting interior spaces, such as someone’s home, and creating psychological tension around how that space is viewed – either in a positive or negative light - and how it can impact someone. But she is also expanding and attempting to “leave the home” with a series of exterior paintings about women feeling free to explore the world at night.

“What, in a world where I felt super comfortable, would I do just in the middle of the night? Would I go have a picnic in a park or would I go listen to music and look at the stars with headphones in?” she said. “Just thinking about who gets to occupy space during the night and what does it mean to be inside a space or to be outside a space, and how I can show that in my work and show aspirational versions of that and what it would be like.”

Snyder was involved with art from a young age, with her father instilling an interest that continued growing through high school. While she did not initially envision pursuing art in college, with concerns over the viability of a career, she worked full-time as a pre-law major at Columbus State Community College and realized she wanted to pursue what she loved: making art.

From there, Snyder transferred to Ohio State and was introduced to a new world of opportunities that reaffirmed her decision to become a Buckeye.

“The first semester I was here I used unstretched canvas and hung up a bunch of canvas on the wall and painted something that was four feet by six feet and that, to me, was just crazy,” she said. “I didn't even think that I would ever paint that big, and then all of a sudden, I was doing it here just because I was told that I could. I think that was when I really started to pursue being like an artist and feeling like an artist.”

As she continued her education and gained confidence as an artist, Snyder established her own unique creative process for each painting she makes.

She begins work on a piece by pulling inspiration from media she has interacted with, whether it be books, movies or other paintings, as well as considering what current issues she may be thinking about or has seen others bring up. From there, she begins visualizing how to show what she’s feeling or what an object represents and creates reference photos that her painting will be based on before heading to the canvas.

“At that point, it turns into, what can the paint do? What do I need the paint to do?” she said. “I like to work with washes of paint that build up these shadows and these textures. It's about pushing and pulling depth and adding layers and layers and layers of paint.”

Another common element in Snyder’s work - including “Rage Becomes Her,” a recent piece that was on display in the Hopkins Hall Gallery - is the use of lighting and shadows to create contrast within a painting. She pulls that inspiration from some of her most influential artists such as Jane Dixon and Robin F. Williams, both of whom she said are able to set a mood in all of their pieces like she aims to.

“Shadows, to me, are very compelling in the ways that you can really create an atmosphere with shadow and light, and it's something that I am really inspired by,” she said.

Snyder is currently working on her senior exhibition where she curates several artworks to put on display along with a written proposal and references to literature and history she based her work on.

“Another thing that I found really helpful here at Ohio State is they really challenge you to think about your art and justify it,” she said. “You're not just painting because you think it's pretty. It's taking some of those philosophies and analytics and history and applying that through art in a way that I hadn't experienced before.”

After graduating this spring, Snyder plans to pursue graduate school for painting. And with her time at Ohio State coming to an end, she is thankful for the opportunity to grow within her major and the Department of Art.

“The art department is really great about making every student, whether they're an art major or not, feel like they're important and welcome,” she said. “That was really nice for me, just feeling that all the teachers really cared about me and what I was doing and helping me get there.”