Artist on the Rise: Caleb Roggenbuck

Paint and canvas. Clay and a potter’s wheel. Taco Bell and Post Malone? Not all artists’ converging stimuli look exactly the same, and in Caleb Roggenbuck’s world, his love of fast food and R&B proved to be the impetus for some of his most defining works.

Caleb Roggenbuck

“It was an Intro to Media class, and our assignment was to make some sort of collage with things you like. And for some reason I just thought of Taco Bell right away, so I thought it would be cool to incorporate it,” the University of Sioux Falls (USF) student said. “A lot of students were doing basic things with newspapers and photos without any real subject matter to it, but I was feeling extra and wanted to take it a step further. So I made Post Malone out of the wrappers.”

The pun possibility is not lost on the junior art student.

Though he grew up in Sioux Falls, Roggenbuck started his college journey at Morningside University in Sioux City.

“At Morningside I ran track—and I still run track at USF,” he said. “But my track coach at Morningside left, and that was one of the main reasons I came. USF was my next option—plus my sister also goes here, so that sort of drew me in. Also the hominess of Sioux Falls—I’m from here, so I know the area super well.”

The student’s family had an inkling he’d pursue something related to art, having always been the creative type since childhood.

“As a kid, I never thought of it as a career,” Roggenbuck said. “There’s a literal chair in my house that, when I was little, I took a Sharpie and drew on it, and my mom got so mad at me. I don’t know why I wasn’t using paper. I was always sort of known as a little creative guy—my grandma would always hang my stuff up on the fridge, even if it wasn’t fantastic at the time.”

And in his first few months of being on campus, Roggenbuck has found a great deal of inspiration in his professor, Joe Schaeffer, himself an artist prone to graphic styles.

“My professor Joe Schaeffer really matches my style. I enjoy his feedback. I’ve only had a couple weeks of history with him at USF, but I can already tell it’s going to be a really cool, professor/student collaboration.”

So what can someone expect when taking in Roggenbuck’s pieces? Though not everything he makes incorporates mixed-media ephemera like his rapper/wrapper portraits, layers are almost always a feature.

“It’s kind of all over the place. I like lots of different types of media—photo, film, abstract painting, layering,” he said. “I love mixed media—I’ve done recycled pieces before. I take my base subject and kind of make it my own. I really don’t have a concrete plan usually. I just kind of keep adding, and if it looks good I keep going. There’s never a structured plan—I just kind of go with the flow.”

An athlete by trade, Roggenbuck also loves to make his sporting pursuits part of his art, dabbling in related design work, as well.

“I’ve always liked mixing the two when it comes to graphic design,” he said. “But in terms of being involved with both, it’s cool to see that you can be an athlete and artist at the same time. I think other people really appreciate it, because you’re not good at just one thing—it makes you stand out a little more.”