To artist Inari Kyl anen, 32, the purpose of every work of art is the story it tells. The series this image represents takes that unique function to the next level by chronicling the telling of a story in an episodic fashion, from three different perspectives.

"This is about how when you tell a story it's always from your perspective, when others tell the story you might not even know it's the same event because their view point is so different," Kyl anen said.

The three pieces in the "View Point" series are separate but all are interesting enough on their own. They don't necessarily need to be seen together.

The first depiction features a cat describing a strange bird, and the next image was people in cat suits. One mentions the bird but it doesn't seem as strange. Perspective number three, this painting, is the story from the pregnant bird's point of view. It is up to the observer to make the connection between the three images, which adds a fourth viewpoint and interpretation to the story.

Kyl anen has developed a unique process to complement her graphic artistic style. Like many artists who work with acrylics she doesn't sketch out her pieces but instead takes advantage of the opaqueness of her chosen medium and layers the paint until she creates something she can work from. Her liberal application of paint layer by layer allows her to create unique textures.

Her art has evolved in many ways over the last three years. She has moved from almost exclusively depicting animals to creating pieces where people show up more and more frequently.

"Maybe I've said all I have to say about the role of animals in the modern world," Kyl anen said.

For her master's in fine arts exhibit, she plans on exhibiting her most cohesive pieces from all three of her years at UAF, about 30 pieces altogether. Her collective work chronicles a story of its own.

She is an artist embracing a relatively newfound freedom. Her background is commercial art created with the intent of selling something, from the consensus of a group of artists, with a product, the manufacturer and the consumer in mind.

Now Kyl anen's pieces are created for the sake of art itself. She can examine the canvas and decide on her own what it needs, and most importantly she can decide what story to tell.

- Kay Koerner/Staff Reporter