Mackenzie Starr uses art and objects to capture her world

Visual artist, production designer and Roski senior Mackenzie Starr has found art as a way to conceptualize difficult emotions and ideas of life to share with the public.

Growing up, Starr’s grandma was a painter and a sculptor. Since early childhood, she grew up doing art of all different kinds, particularly paintings. Her supportive family allowed her to stay passionate about art for so long that she ended up pursuing a fine arts major at USC.

Starr has a variety of mediums she is passionate about when it comes to art, including mixed media, oil paintings, sound art and installation.

“I really like combining different things with art and interdisciplinary studies … I’ve combined sound art with a lot of my paintings,” Starr said.

Starr draws her inspiration for her art from the people around her. She uses them as inspiration to explore themes of memory and loss through her artwork.

“Oftentimes, I’m interviewing friends, or kind of taking deep dives into myself, or researching artists, and drawing inspiration from what’s already been done,” Starr said.

Art is so important to Starr because it’s become a way for her to understand complicated and difficult things. She views her artwork as a productive way to connect with other people. 

“I find that the most gratifying part of art is connecting with other people and having other people see your art and resonate with it,” Starr said.

As a result of being stuck inside because of the pandemic, Starr has been devoting much of her time to oil painting. However, she has also been dedicating a lot of time to production design, which is how she hopes to continue her art career professionally. 

Starr has been working on several undergraduate and graduate student films, making posters and designing sets. She has simultaneously had to endure the difficulties of creating inspiring art this year when life has felt paused, challenging her to produce even when she hasn’t felt like it.

Many aspects of art apply to production design, like color theory, aesthetics and telling stories visually. A lot of Starr’s paintings don’t depict people, they are mostly object-based and tell human stories.

Nerris Nassiri, who created a film known as “Brokenhearted Magic,” a proof of concept about five women who practice magic and experienced racism and sexism along the way, hired Starr as his production designer. Starr was in charge of props, costumes and designing sets, all while staying under budget.

“She tells a story with her set design and I think that’s really special and it’s really unique to the point where she brought out through the props and through the set decoration facets of the character that I wrote that I didn’t even think of,” Nassiri said. “So I think that makes her someone who will have a very big impact in working with directors on really unique genre or period films, because she really is able to collaborate.” 

Karen Liebowitz, a professor at the Roski School of Art and Design, has worked with Starr for several years as a professor and mentor. She has seen her grow tremendously in talent and the way she represents diverse stories and perspectives through her art.

“Historically there have only been certain voices that have really gotten center stage and the world has been changing and it’s still in need of more change and I know that Mackenzie cares a lot about representation and not just within aspects of her own identity like queer and female, but just with any underrepresented groups,” Liebowitz said. “I anticipate her to be a champion for new perspectives.”

Liebowitz also mentions that as a very young artist, Starr has her whole career ahead of her to be a refreshing and needed voice in the art world.

In order to further share her work, Starr has jumped onto social media. She recently got back on Instagram and has been creating a website for her artwork as well, finding a new outlet beyond Roski to connect with the art community. 

Moving forward, Starr wants to use her art to be a part of the positive push towards morality, diversity and inclusivity in Hollywood that’s happening now. She wants to help create impactful films that are ethically made, while continuously sharing her art with the world.