Students express themselves through diverse mediums of visual arts
Through the variety of art courses the school offers, students can expand their artistic skills and share what they have learned. Through the inspiration they find in and out of class, students reflect on their individual experiences, styles and themes of the art they have created.
January 19, 2023
Mason Bruce (鈥23)
As technology becomes ever-present in her life, Mason Bruce (鈥23) said she uses applications that provide opportunities for new tools and techniques to cultivate her creativity. Bruce said she has always been interested in art but struggled with other people鈥檚 perception of art as a career path.聽
鈥淚’ve always been a very creative person, but I never considered pursuing it because I was told growing up that, 鈥榊ou shouldn鈥檛 pursue art as a major,鈥 but that鈥檚 ridiculous,鈥 Bruce said. 鈥淚n recent days, people have been more like, 鈥楴o, there鈥檚 plenty of things for creative minds to do.鈥欌
Perry Chen (鈥23)
Having experimented with photography and 3D modeling, Perry Chen (鈥23) said he can see 鈥減rogression鈥 manifest in his work, and largely attributes that progress to his dedicated practice over the past four years.聽
鈥淭alent is one thing, but also practice matters,鈥 Chen said. 鈥淭o get better, you don鈥檛 just blame it on talent. It鈥檚 more on practice, it鈥檚 more on doing the same thing repeatedly, being passionate about it, and just exploring it. You want to be willing to spend your free time on it, and when you do so, you can really see yourself progress.鈥
Naomi Hart (鈥25)
Naomi Hart (鈥25) said she turns to artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Francis Bacon for inspiration, who create neo-expressionism and contemporary art, and surrealism and expressionism, respectively. Furthermore, Hart said she also finds inspiration on a more personal level, which initially spurred her interest in art.聽
鈥淸My mom] is really into art, or she was at least, and I鈥檝e seen a few of her paintings that she鈥檚 done,鈥 Hart said. 鈥淏ecause of that, we had a lot of art supplies like watercolor and paints in my house, so I guess one day I just painted a watercolor face鈥t sort of became an outlet for me.鈥澛
Zal Rimer (鈥25)
Having been interested in art for 鈥渁s long as he could remember,鈥 Zal Rimer (鈥25) said he differs his art from others by putting 鈥渁 new spin鈥 on existing artwork.聽
鈥淢uch of my work consists of things I鈥檝e come up with in my imagination, whether it be portraits, mythologies or photographic composition,鈥 Rimer said. 鈥淎n underlying theme of my artwork is that it鈥檚 not very pleasing to look at, at least not in the classic artistic sense. I try to provoke myself and people of having different perspectives of looking at art.鈥
Roshni Misra (鈥24)
Roshni Misra (鈥24) said growing up with an interior designer and a fellow artist in her household inspired her to develop her passion for art. Through oil paintings and sculptures, Misra said she can express her voice and unwind as well as learn to accept mistakes through permissive materials such as oil paint.
鈥淚n art, if you make a mistake in an oil painting, it鈥檚 such a malleable medium that you can just go over or wipe out what you want,鈥 Misra said. 鈥淢y art teacher always tells us that it鈥檚 really nice to see iterations of your artwork through final pieces. It’s okay if there鈥檚 a sketch in the background, it鈥檚 okay if there’s a brushstroke that you repainted over. That just makes it more interesting and beautiful.鈥
Maya Willis (鈥24)
In a similar vein, Maya Willis (鈥24) said her artistic interest has been significantly influenced by the environment in which she grew up, which was filled with a family of artists trained in various styles.
鈥淚t definitely had an influence on my artistic life and vision to be surrounded by so many artists interested in many different mediums growing up,鈥 Willis said. 鈥淢y grandpa was a painter, and my grandma is also super creative. Whenever I visited her, we always used to do arts and crafts and she’d always show me my grandpa’s paintings, it was really inspiring.鈥
Ella Jackson-Drexler (鈥23)
While Ella Jackson-Drexler (鈥23) said she more recently turned to writing to express herself and sift through her emotions on world issues, she said art can be an effective tool for showcasing ideas. Jackson-Drexler said she tends to draw inspiration from psychology, literature, Shakespeare and feminism 鈥 elements present in her AP Art Portfolio.
鈥淭he entire thing was inspired by my reading of 鈥楲olita鈥 over the summer of my junior year and was also inspired by some writing of Shakespeare, sexism and other stories,鈥 Jackson-Drexler said. 鈥淚 had 鈥楪ender and Lit鈥 as a class, so I started reading Warsan Shire, Audre Lorde and [Virginia] Woolf, some of my favorite authors. The themes of feminism and femininity and womanhood kept coming up, so I decided to dedicate my entire portfolio to woman subjugation and purity culture.鈥
