By Sarah McMillin, Asst. Living and Arts Editor
Illusion, a digital magazine that showcases the art of Susquehanna students, is currently accepting submissions for its fall semester issue, themed “metamorphosis.”
Submissions opened on Sept. 25 and will be open until Oct. 30.
About two weeks after submissions close, they will be reviewed by the review board to determine which ones will be in the magazine.
Illusion was started last semester by Susquehanna alumnus Dylan Scala and junior Kaitlyn McMullen and is currently run by McMullen.
According to the Illusion website, it is Susquehanna’s first visual arts magazine that is created by and for students. It was created to provide a space for visual artists to share their work with others.
“Illusion’s purpose was to provide a magazine platform for visual artists on [Susquehanna’s] campus, as there is not a single magazine at [Susquehanna] that is solely dedicated to visual works. Illusion fills that missing hole,” junior and magazine assistant Jane Seibert said.
This semester’s theme of metamorphosis was chosen because of how broad of an idea it can be and the many different interpretations of the theme that an artist may choose to pursue in their medium.
Metamorphosis is defined by the Oxford dictionary as, “a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means.”
“It has shown to be very representative of college years, and art in itself,” McMullen said in regard to the theme.
This will be the second issue of Illusion and the first issue that will include submissions from Susquehanna alumni. McMullen also emphasized how the theme of metamorphosis also connects to any potential submissions from Susquehanna alumni.
Many of the alumni whom the magazine has reached out to have recently graduated and are experiencing many changes and metamorphoses in their new lives, McMullen explained.
All types of visual art may be submitted to Illusion.
The most common types of submitted pieces include paintings, drawings and photography. However, the magazine is also interested in sculpture, VFX makeup, jewelry, shape poetry and digital media.
Those wishing to submit a 3D piece of art may submit a picture of it and the medium that was used to create it to Illusion.
“We want to help visual artists discover themselves by telling them that they have the potential to be more, that they can be visual artists and be proud of calling themselves that,” Seibert said.
“It doesn’t matter if you think you are bad or good. If you enjoy creating your medium, put it out there,” Seibert continued and encouraged.
Last semester, the board reviewed 72 submissions for their 35-piece maximum magazine spread.
Once this semester’s pieces are picked, the magazine will be formatted and published by the first week of December. Seibert said that the magazine hopes to serve as a platform for these students to promote their work for their resumes and CV’s.
Currently, McMullen is the creative director for the magazine. Submitted pieces will be looked at by McMullen and Seibert, as well as a five-person review board that is yet to be determined.
To submit a piece to Illusion, email a picture or a pdf if the work features a two-dimensional object to suvartmag@gmail.com.