Artists

Fall 2022

with Danielle De Jesus

9^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
My New York City

 I’ve been exposed to so many cultures, forms of art, careers, and academic subjects as I was growing up. This was drastically different than my parents who are immigrants to America. From the ages 1-14, I’ve been a sponge absorbing everything and anything. As I get older, I started squeezing and applying this knowledge into my school assignments, relationships, and more. Over that time, I’ve also been absorbing people’s opinions and thoughts about certain topics and myself. Due to how open-minded I’ve been while I was growing up, I took all of these opinions to heart and researched for more to support the ones I already had.

When I first joined Whitney Youth Insights Artists, I applied the experiences that were applicable and could inspire me in my artwork. I’ve absorbed and released knowledge and opinions, according to the topic discussed. I loved how in this space, everyone had a similar mindset like me and was so open minded. I decided to let everything out by incorporating the memories captured in picture that SCREAMED community to me on this artwork. 

These pictures will be on a clear screen and will show on the opposite side of a light source on a wall, similar to the stained-glass effect. I also incorporated slightly visible string and wire, which was inspired by David Hammons’ Days End. His large wire sculpture gave homage to all the several queer backgrounds in a building that was in the previous place of his sculpture. Imitating a sewn effect in my project shows how all of these memories together makes up how I viewed New York City with my friends, family, and myself. It shows homage of my appreciation for all the amazing places I visited, surrounded by amazing people.

11^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
Bright Community 

Community is not a place specific to me.  But it's what I bring to different places and the people who are with me. For so long I've tried to be part of a friend group or a specific group, to find "my people" and my community. But what I've realized is that community is not determined by a specific group, but it's determined by where you feel most like yourself. And what people bring the best out of you. You can build a community out of people who you just make eye contact with every morning on the train, or someone next to you in line for coffee. Your community you can find anywhere by looking closer into your everyday life.

I've created a collage of watercolor portraits to show my brightest and lowest points, where my community has brought me up and supported me throughout everything.

11th, YI Artists Wednesday
Repeating Images       

 I wanted to use my art to express how the city has remained consistent throughout the generations in my family. The images used show the similarities between how my mom and I interacted with the city.

10^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
Past and Present         

 Since our theme is community, I decided to photo transfer pictures of my parents and my friends onto a piece of wood. This is a very literal definition of what community means to me since it’s some of the people who have shaped me into the person I am today.

11^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
Free Fall          

As an artist, I prefer to head straight into my work. I feel as though spending too much time planning would start to psych me out. For this piece, for example, I took a picture of my hand and instantly started painting using that reference. Trial and error are what art is all about and there’s something about rolling with your mistakes that makes everything so peaceful and nice. Messiness doesn’t ruin an art piece. Art is completely fluid and not just a prim and proper renaissance painting. In a way, this thought process has helped me cope with my own perfectionism.

9^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
Memory Tree

My art is a representation of how community affects me. Every person who makes up my community is a leaf on my tree. Just as leaves fuel a tree, my community inspires and supports me. What motivates me to make art is a love for creating art. Often what inspires me are images or physical objects with an innate beauty—for example, a small flower, a stack of suitcases, or a window. My goal is to show people what they might otherwise not fully appreciate. 

For this art piece, I started by thinking about what community is and how that reflects in pictures. Once I had decided on my idea, I started painting. At first, I had thought I would just do photo transfers, but then I realized that a mix of collage and transfers would create more depth. My materials were acrylic paints and printed photos on canvas board. 

12^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
Stretched

Art became a central part of my life with what I thought was a casual decision to bring a notebook and pen with me when I went out with my friends. I doodled while they were busy on their phones. I began with scribbles of creatures that came into my mind. They gave me a sense of comfort during quarantine and were like a community branching from my emotions.

As far as my inspiration or process though, it may all be a bit unorthodox. When I begin a piece, my mind is blank. I pick a color and just go. I do not really think, I make. I have no expectations when I am making it. It is the least stressful thing I do in my life. It de-stresses me. There is no punishment for not being good at it - with art, you just keep doing it.

11^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
Disturbia 

I’m trying to convey the busy life is native New Yorkers have. I want to show the many talents we all share as creatives and for that I have shown all the communities I belong too. A main theme in my piece is the duality of the fashion community and the diversity that is starting to be reflected. For me fashion is a healing outlet and inspires me to keep creating art. At first, I didn’t know where I was going with my collage but I kept the theme of community in mind and created my piece. I used photos from my communities like my friends, family and neighborhood. I chose a variety of editorial pieces for my collage and photos that I took on either my phone or digital camera. I used a canvas and mod podge to paste my pieces and cut them in various shapes. Disturbiashould come across as a piece that appeals to everyone and anyone. I hope to spread my love of fashion and fashion magazines with everyone in hopes of being behind the scenes one day. 

9^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
Looking Back            

The prompt for this artwork was community. To me, I think I belong to the Filipino community, but as I immigrated to the US and get used to here, I might consider myself as part of the American community. This gives the meaning to the artwork name "Looking Back." It features me between the American flag and the Philippine flag. I walk away from the Philippine flag where I drew the Filipino people and culture, and towards the American flag where the new and strange American culture is along with all kinds of people. As I go on to be part of the American community, I look back to my old Filipino community.

10^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
why don’t you understand?            

Wood panel, printer paper and ink, clips from old work, acrylic. A seven on the IB (international Baccalaureate) scale translates to a 95-100% in standard grading.

At first, most people tend to think more positively about community, thinking of family or friends. However, my first thoughts were not along those lines. 

I’m growing up in a community that tends to be stressful. A lot of pressure has been placed on me by the people around me. My role in my community is as the gifted and talented kid, and when I’m anything else… that becomes a problem.

“38/40? Well, you should be getting all of the questions right. This isn’t good enough.” 

“you’re too young to feel burnt out. Your grades aren’t high enough for you to complain.”

“You’re supposed to be the smart one, why don’t you understand?"

11^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
A Tribute to Edison             

High school is considered the prime years of a person’s educational career. The years before you gain the title of an “adult” and continue to higher studies or a job. High school for me has been an amazing experience so far and it’s all thanks to the students and staff of Edison. I feel like I’ve peaked so much and developed myself to be more adaptable. Although I have less than 2 years left I want to make the best of it with my Edison community. The people, the blend of cultures, the endless opportunities, and the dedication of students will keep me going till I graduate. I’m grateful for everything my school community has given to me and here’s this tribute to portray how I view my peers. Thank you, TAEHS!

11^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
Unified Community     

To me community is something a person inherently has or something a person must make. When I think of my own community, I think of the people who support me and accept me for who I am. I also think of Harlem, the place in which I was born and raised. For this project, I was inspired by all of the things that make Harlem unique. The strong sense of unity and all of the people that look out for one another. I think my artwork is important because it presents Harlem in the way I grew up. I wanted to portray its rooted diversity, warmth, and vibrancy.

9^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
Neurodiverse View from the Park            

The Whitney Museum Education Department took us on a field trip to MoMA PS1, to tour the exhibition “Life Between Buildings.” While there, I was inspired to create my artwork I present to you today, which include buildings and gardens and waterways and greenery, all earthy life forms you see. I know I needed it to reflect New York City in some way. However I had to start somewhere, but first I had to do something. I had to get inspired, so I watch an episode of one of my favorite painters Bob Ross. He painted a “View from the Park” based on a trip to New York City. So, my mom and I visited Central Park on a hot day in winter, and that’s when I saw exactly what Bob Ross painted but with a twist. I included my signature style bold sharp lines and free hand painting of the buildings of my community.  Community means a lot to me, because navigating it is a challenge but it is something that I have to do, so I incorporated it in my art. Just as I did in the photograph I captured. My intellectual disability keeps me motivated to create or make art. I am at my calmest and at a place of Zen and peace when I am drawing or doing any form of art. It doesn’t require me speaking which is my struggle, so that’s why I love doing it. I have the freedom to express myself as well because that’s also is another struggle I face every day. This painting represents my version of community and my perspective of life between buildings. The building represents New York City where I am from that can be scary and full of chaos but the park with the green grass and beautiful waterway represent calmness and that bridge represents the toggle between them both, indicating life between buildings. The process got off to a very slow start which is typical of me but when momentum starts building I continue until it’s completed. I used canvas and mixed media paint both acrylic and water color, with ponytail brushes, sponges and spatulas.

12^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
It Takes a Building      

When asked about community, I can only think of my apartment building. For people who live in New York City, we interact with our neighbors consistently. The people in my building have watched me grow up, I notice their habits, hear words and smells pass through thin walls. With this piece I wanted to represent what it is like to live in an apartment complex while mostly using materials that you could find in a shared compactor room.

12^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
Clothes 

In my art, I like to create work that makes people feel something and reflect on their own life. I am often inspired by my own emotions and the others around me. When reflecting on the topic of community, something that comes to my mind is the creativity of New York City and the fashion culture. For my piece, Clothes, I asked some of my friends to send an image of their favorite outfit. I painted the piece with acrylic paint without adding their faces, showing how identity in New York can simply be highlighted by a passion for fashion. I initially wanted to do a photo shoot where I style outfits on my friends myself, but I realized it is much more authentic to ask them which outfits are their own favorites. I added New York city’s skyline in the background with white gel pen to add how we are united as New Yorkers, and these are the kids of New York.

10^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
Comfort Zone   

I wanted to express the versions of myself that come out in different communities. When I'm with my family I am inside of my regular comfort zone, somewhere I've been my entire life, and it's a place I know well. The person that most people get so see is the one that is inside this comfort zone. For this, I used a family portrait and painted over it to show the connection that I have with them. The other half is of the various communities and people that I've met that have helped me to grow further. These people are ones that could make a memorable experience out of the blandest moments. I used many photos of when I truly felt at home outside of my home along with objects I've collected during those times.

I honestly almost gave up on this idea half way through. Things weren't working out the way I had pictured. But from the support my friends, and especially the help of Danielle and Kristen, I was able to push through the struggles and make something I was proud of.

11^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
Homewing        

I originally wanted to dedicate my artwork solely to Jackson Heights, but as I was scrolling through my camera roll looking for photos that have a sense of community, I realized that the entirety of New York City is my home. I chose to have butterflies connected to each other as the center of my piece to represent unity. I debated several times on how I wanted to incorporate photography into my artwork. Whether through the use of collaging, photo transfers, etc. I decided to go with collaging because that is something I already love to do for the wall in my room. For how I actually put the photos together, it was mostly intuitive, but I tried to arrange them by contrasting colors. There is no place I would have rather gotten to grow up in than New York City and this piece is a look into how I perceive my community.

10^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
City of Style     

Mine: When I was first given this project, so much came to mind. I began to picture all the unique aspects of New York, but I couldn’t decide what exactly I wanted to capture. While scrolling, looking for inspiration, I came across a photo that I had taken of Isabella over the summer. Inspired by their style, and knowing that they’ve had experience modeling, I texted them asking if she’d be interested in doing a shoot for the project. On the day of the shoot, we actually hadn’t planned for that day, and so Isabella didn’t have the outfit he had initially styled, but, we didn’t let that didn’t stop us. As said before, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to capture, but I knew I wanted to portray something slightly different the stereotypical New York. Isabella’s outfit, (shown in photo book), gave a perfect contrast to the location in which we shooting. I ended up capturing several little aspects and aesthetics that I feel combine to create this city. I used acrylic paints and inspiration from one of the photos to create the final painting. 

Isabella’s (model): When Hannah approached me to help her with this project, all sorts of images came to mind. I was brought on as the stylist and model for this shoot. I had initially wanted to style an outfit in the way that I saw New York’s attitude and energy; but, instead, on the day of the shoot, I cancelled because I had scored a last-minute interview for a new job. A little after the interview, on my way home, I texted Hannah to see if she was still available to shoot. We then, had an impromptu shoot, and had even planned to reshoot with the outfit I had initially planned which had included less pink and much more of a streetwear essence to embody a little more of New York’s edgy side. As you can see, that shoot never happened because we had found the perfect image. 

10^th Grade, YI Artists Wednesday
The people I love

As an artist I’m always trying to create new things, new ideas. My piece is a painting of portraits of people I know and love and considers my community. When I was younger I would draw these crowds of people all with different hair colors like pink, purple, yellow. When I was thinking about what I wanted to make for this piece my mom was helping my brain storm, at some point in our conversation she pulled out my old drawings and I was immediately drawn to the seas of people. One of my favorite things to draw and paint are people and when think of community I think of the people around me, my neighbors, friends, family, so this was the best way to capture my community, something I have held so close since I was young.