Artists

Fall 2021

With Jonathan Horowitz

11th Grade
We the People

My piece We the People is inspired by Jasper Johns’s iconic Three Flags painting. I wanted to celebrate the diverse makeup of our American citizenry using Johns’s signature emblem. Johns painted familiar objects to free himself from the need to create a new design, which allowed him to focus on the execution. Similarly, I used cellophane to recreate the colors (red white and blue) and shapes (stars and stripes) of the US Flag. My piece is a mosaic composed of my portrait photography. These photos include individuals from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, genders, sexual identities and upbringings. I strive to rebuild minority representation in art, redefine non-inclusive beauty standards, and promote a recognition of diversity. I care about the different perspectives and experiences of others. I want to live in a fair and just society that acts with respect for the dignity and rights of all citizens. By appreciating and utilizing diversity as an asset, we are strengthening and enriching our national identity. This embodies the motto that adorns the Great Seal of America: E pluribus unum; “Out of many, one.”

Chloe is from Manhattan, New York City. To Chloe, art is a form of creative communication that allows us to express ourselves and share our opinions and perspectives about the world to others, with the help of various modes of media. In the future, Chloe hopes to create powerful, original, and meaningful art that actively addresses social, cultural, and political power structures. She also wants to engage audiences, prompt dialogue, and initiate change to accomplish a more equitable and just society.

12th Grade
Mixed Me

My flag represents me and the way my bi-racial identity has molded my view of the world. As a bi-racial person, I've often felt like I'm being forced into two categories, while simultaneously being pushed out of both. I've felt the weight of my identity personify itself in the interactions I have with friends, discussions in school, and in the way, I view different media. With the making of this flag, I've tried to represent just that.  I am half Chinese and half Ukrainian, which is what I based this project on. I painted each flag three times, layering them on top of each other to represent how I sometimes feel torn and conflicted identifying with both. The process of making this flag was super rewarding and I feel that I was able to reflect a lot on my identity through brainstorming ideas.

Mia is from Manhattan, New York. To Mia, art is the freedom in which they can express themselves without judgement of anyone, including themselves. The process of creating art provides Mia with an opportunity for growth and to learn more about the way Mia thinks, as well as viewing the world differently. Mia hopes to learn more about themselves as an artist in the future. They hope to accomplish this by learning from their peers and taking in the art around them. They also hope to become more experienced in different areas of art and gain more of an understanding within their own process of artmaking.

11th Grade
Generational Tear

This flag could be portrayed as an American flag, but it also could just be a flag of its own. The intent of this flag was to illustrate the foundation of our society tearing apart and the “roots” of our founding principles coming out again. In recent events, it seems like we are not moving forward in history and that we are only moving backwards. I tried to illustrate that idea in this piece with patch-working all of these different flags but ripping the canvas (foundation) underneath and having the string (roots) come out of the tears.

Celeste is from Manhattan, New York. To Celeste, art is the way she looks interprets the world. She looks at the world through an artistic lens. Art means a lot to Celeste, which has impacted her socially and politically. In the future, Celeste hopes to go to a college that suits her best. She hopes to find a career in fashion or photography.

10th Grade
Growth

My work is an examination of learning, healing and growing.  It is felt attached to word and prints.

Chloe is from Jersey City, New Jersey. To Chloe, art means one can express themselves without using words. Chloe hopes to connect with others through artwork in the future.

11th Grade
IDENTA-FRACTAL FLAG #1

My goal with this piece was to encapsulate what I felt Jasper Johns had utilized in a large majority of his works where he shows a vast usage of layering and hiding either optical illusions or allusions to a distant memory or experience/expression. I tried to emulate that here by drawing parallels to the patterns and objects that I capture as a photographer. So, for me the main idea of this flag is in two ways, a mirror. There are parts that are actively in reflection in the piece, fragment of a texture/memory, or a physical reflection on the flag. When conglomerating this flag collage together, I went through several processes and plans of ideas for what I wanted it to be. I wanted to add so much yet not have it completely take away from what I wanted to see and what I wanted others to see. As I was making it I was actively leaving my comfort zone and playing with what worked, what didn’t, and what I had time for. All throughout I wanted to maintain a focus on the adolescent nature of the elements (i.e. just scraps of fabric, reflexive paper, and printed photos taken by me). Using this platform, I could also make a statement about the way we identify and configure to the things we process and perceive. To a majority this was a piece about me but also a flag for the people or person who can take and identify to the things they want to the most within the flag. I wanted to use Jasper Johns enthusiasm of creating something that could be thought about in so many ways but was absolutely simple in its inceptions. I think most of all something that I wish I included but didn’t have the time for was using cyanotype exposures to layer on or over because I really wanted to experiment more. I think doing this project greatly brought me out of what I typically do and what I thought I couldn’t manage at all and it has made me more inspired to work with the methods that I discovered through making this piece.

Devan is from Brooklyn, New York. To Devan, art is the freedom of the mind. Art is the world of thought, expression, and reality. It is representative of all that exists, does not exist, soon exists, and formerly existed. Art is the mythology of man and the roots of which life plants, the fruits that man reaps and eats. Devan hopes to create many collections of art and showcase them within both, private and public spaces. He wishes to expand and experiment with his photography skills in order to manipulate prints and exposures.

11th Grade
Perspective

My work is a group of opposites coming into conflict with each other. Anything you want to see as the light and dark side always has a grey area in between. Everything about those opposites are intertwined via the border around the flag, they cannot escape each other.  My piece is mixed media and includes charcoal wood, gold leaf, and other found objects on wood.

Aaron is from Brooklyn, New York. To Aaron, art means that he can be creative. He hopes to be successful in the future.

10th Grade 
Tearing of the Inside

My piece of the flag project is my home country Kyrgyzstan. From this I wanted to show a story or a tale in how the families within the culture tear each other out. There's a lot of issues that are being ignored in Kyrgyzstan, like the lack of support and mental health being overlooked, to the point where abuse is the common normal, being passed on to the newer generation in a continuous cycle. From there, I tried to represent the culture as black and gray and in which the flowers are represented as people/family leaking that black to the other ones around it.  I added a bit more tearing to show more of the culture destroying itself and the inability even hold itself up, showing its destruction of the culture itself and how it consumes the people inside. In the painting I used gouache and a lot of different paper to add layering into the drawing. I used cardboard and watercolor paper on top of it as a base so it's more stable for painting on top of it. I used pretty limited resources since it’s easier to make use of everything when you have a little bit of them. And make much better uses out of them as well as getting creative with it.

Kuldiya is from Kyrgyzstan. To Kuldiya, art means a lot. Art helps her make ideas and express these ideas to connect with other people. Kuldiya hopes to gauge in with comfort styles with artwork.

10th Grade 
A Flag

This piece was meant to signify how no flag can truly represent everyone. I used flags that I cut up as well as black paint to create an intentional mess, to display how flags don't always work to unite people. I glued the flag to the canvas using paint and added texture using globs of paint as well as adding in small ripped up pieces of other flags. I was inspired by Jasper Johns painting, In Memory of my Feelings, as I liked the way it was a dark painting yet there was still color peeking through the grey.  I let the flags remain visible, so viewers could immediately recognize it, by only painting over some parts and by adding in extra pieces of flag as well.

Vera is from New York.  To Vera, art is a way of communication and self-expression. Art is helpful in terms of organizing thoughts and ideas. Vera hopes to try out new mediums and improve her own techniques so that Vera could express her ideas more in depth.

9th Grade 
Freezer Bag

My art intends to help people accept their true selves. I drew colorful letters on the inside of the bag representing one's true self. And on the outside of the freezer bag, I sewed words using white threat that show what you think of yourself and what people expect you to be. As time passes, the letters on the inside will disappear, leaving only the white thread on the outside. And if you don't open the bag, turn it inside out, and see the letters inside; the orange representing your heart will eventually rot. I made this artwork because I've been pressured by the society and family to maintain a persona that is not who I really am inside, and I am still discovering my true self. So, the main idea I want to convey with this artwork is that we need to look inside ourselves and find happiness before we become the expectation of the society.

10th Grade 
Duality in Identity

Penelope is from New York City, New York. To Penelope, art is something that Penelope loves to learn about and appreciate. Penelope adds her own perspective of the world through art. Penelope’s goals in the future is to become a successful architect that incorporates designs and art knowledge in order to create joyful environments for homeowners.

12th Grade 
Rat Race

Allen is from Manhattan, New York. To Aaron, art is creative and expansive. He hopes to expand his knowledge on the world of art so he can find what style of art suits him best.