Artists

Fall 2021

With Liza Lou

10th Grade
Not My Generation

The intent of my artwork is to show people my obsession with the "retro" aesthetic. I always thought that I was born into the wrong generation because of the way I romanticized retro life. Walkmans instead of Spotify, CRT TVs instead of a smart TV, VHS cassettes instead of Netflix, etc.  I specifically think of my grandparent’s house when I think of "retro.”  When he first came to America, he had a movie/music store, I still go to his house to play some old cassettes. As I began working on this project, I thought deeper into "what if I was born back then,” and it made me realize how much I would've hated it. The morals of that generation weren't suitable for a person like me a POC, queer, and "female.”  My work is a mix-media, consisting of bright colors to associate with the vibrant retro appearance. 

Ridwanah is from Jamaica, Queens and attends Thomas A. Edison CTE High School. To her art is a form of expression, it is a way to release emotions that is bottle up, whether they're positive emotions or negative emotions. In the future she I hopes to accomplish academic achievements and be the best version of herself.

12th Grade
Baker’s Choice

My intention with my artwork was to showcase a hobby of mine that I discovered during quarantine. I was staying at my weekend house while doing online school and I had space in the kitchen to experiment with different baking recipes. I feel motivated to make art when I have free time and I can focus and carefully plan out an artwork/look for inspiration around me. The main idea of this piece is to show the audience my process as an artist and a baker. I have all my tools and ingredients displayed to create my cake, which is a piece of art in itself. I feel inspired by discovering new artists and by discussing art with other people. This artwork means a lot to me because it’s about a new part of my creativity during a time when I didn't feel motivated or inspired. Baking is just like creating art because you can experiment with different designs and ingredients. When I heard that we had to pick an obsession to base our artwork around, I immediately thought of baking because any time I was stressed out or bored I turned to baking to create delicious desserts and try unique recipes. I struggled at first with what kind of setting I wanted to create but then I settled on recreating my kitchen because that's like my own personal space to freely create whatever I want without having to consider anyone else's opinions, much like my art. I used many different mediums so I was able to make some parts of this piece more realistic and some more abstract. The mediums I used are oil pastels, watercolor markers, paint, and tissue paper.  The purpose of this piece is to show that art is everywhere in life. People are inspired by each other to re-create things in their own unique way. Everyone is an artist whether that be in a studio or kitchen. 

Eva is from New York City and attends The Notre Dame School. To her Art is a way of putting our thoughts and feelings into something tangible. It calms her and allows her to experiment and make mistakes. Making art is the one area in her life where she doesn’t feel judged by other peoples’ opinions. In the future she hopes to become a psychologist who uses art as a form of therapy. Although she wants her career to be in psychology, she hopes to continue her hobbies of creating art and possibly working in a gallery during her free time.

10th Grade
Don’t Look

When I started thinking about the project the first thing that came to my mind was my struggle with mental illness, which for better or for worse has become a big part of my identity. One of my coping mechanisms for when I was going through a difficult time was romanticizing my depression. I would wear makeup in order to appear more tired and smudge my mascara so it looked as if I had been crying. I decided to paint with gouache, inspired to try something new. The result was a surreal self-portrait that was in many ways a product of my own indecisiveness. My lack of intent when approaching the canvas made it easier to illustrate the complexities of my obsession and also helped me think more deeply about what I was trying to say. 

Lulu is from New York City and attends Harvest Collegiate. Art gives her life value whether she’s drawing or painting, or listening to music It has always had the power to inspire so many of my thoughts and emotions. Having that outlet has helped ground me throughout her whole life. In the future she hopes to travel, see beautiful places and to create beautiful things. She wants to be proud of what she does and to be present so she can take advantage of every opportunity that's given to her.

11th Grade
To Another World

During this program, I connected the career I want to go into with art. Ever since I was little, I've always been fascinated with outer space and what's out there beyond the Earth. As I grew, I realized I wanted to become a mechanical engineer and work on spaceships.  Our goal for the final project was to find our obsession. At first, I was going to do a painting on mechanical engineering but then I realized that I needed to narrow it down further into outer space. The story of this piece is the girl is dreaming of outer space. She dreams of space exploration and to explore the outside world.

10th Grade
Marathon of the Mind

Liza told us to hone in on our obsessions and create a “Freak Flag” for this project. While thinking about what to make my project about, I thought about my many obsessions that live within my head throughout the day, but I found myself continuously coming back to one specifically; impacts of the beauty standard on young girls like myself. I wanted to make this project to allow viewers to feel what it’s like to live with these thoughts, which are often influenced by media, society, and friends/family. My piece shows a girl in the center who is being chased by large hands, representing the concept of the beauty standard. Surrounding her are her scattered thoughts, meaning obsession. While making this piece, I allowed myself to simply draw and write down the things that live within my head to express the addiction that I must live with and, in a sense, run from my head. These concepts influence so many girls and boys my age. Having to navigate social media at such a young age allows these ideas to be further implemented within our minds and what we think is good. I hope this piece represents how stressful it can feel to sit with these thoughts and provide an outsider perspective on how intensely the media affects teens. 

Finn is from Manhattan, New York and attends NYC Lab School for Collaborative Studies. To her, art is a form of creative expression. Throughout her life art has consistently been there for her time and time again, and has become a form of expression and release when she has nowhere else to put it. Her art is very important to her, and is a way for her to explore her feelings and thoughts, while at the same time calming her stress. In the future, she hopes to be able to pursue her art professionally and use her skill to one day run her own gallery. She hopes to keep art in her life forever, it is something that means a lot to her and if she could incorporate it into her career, she would absolutely love that.

11th Grade
Mom! There's a spider on the wall!

I am obsessed with the concept of fear/phobias and the psychology that lies behind it. The rigidity of the world we grow up in normalizes some things so much in our lives that when we are exposed to what we define "abnormal,” "foreign,” or even things we've never known or experienced, it makes that a terrifying experience. Not only that, but we have so much perception and flexibility in our imaginations that we bend and twist reality so far until we're petrified of what we're really seeing or experiencing. A common example of that is arachnophobia (fear of spiders), which is the reason I chose it for my artwork. It's such a small aspect of life that doesn't go out of its way to interfere with our lives, yet it's one of the top 10 phobias in the world. Overall, I'm really proud of how my work came out, especially with how thin the wire was and how small it had to be in order to fit on the playing card. Yes, there are some things I'd like to change, like making the legs thicker or better stabilization to the body, but I think it fits in with the idea of perception amplifying our fear, given how you would have to really look at it in order to see the legs. 

Liezel is from Queens, New York and attends Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School. To them, art is a universal language that they feel should be taken advantage of. They believe that world is an unfair and unjust place, and there are a lot of times when they can't express my emotions, thoughts, or identity verbally. Left and right, they get cut off or invalidated for what they say and who they are so they use art as a way to convey everything they’re thinking and feeling. They use it to show the world who they are, and what makes them themselves. They hope to be able to sell printed/original artwork, and one day showcase their art in a museum.

11th Grade
Mother’s Flowers

My mother loves hydrangeas, and I painted this image for her. 

Anna is from New York, and attends Saint Vincent Ferrer High School. To them art means everything. It is everywhere constantly and they believe that all and everything is art. In the future they would like to minor in art in college and major in psychology. As well as getting a doctorate in psychology.

10th Grade
Sink into Bliss

Sink into Bliss is a depiction of the state where I feel truly happy, when I read. I look at my books as a way to escape life, which can be harsh and unfair. Reading helps me deal with the troubles on the outside because I can put myself into my books where I know there will always be a happy ending. 

Aiko is from Ireland and attends Grace Church High School. To her art is a way to express herself. Art is a second language for her that she uses when she feels like she can't get her point across with words. In that same respect, it's a way for her to connect with others. She’s seen many pieces that have managed to explain what she felt, but couldn't say, and it makes her feel less alone. In the future she hopes to get to a point where she feels very comfortable in her art skills and others’ will look to her when words get too hard, just like she looks to others now.

9th Grade

Trying to find my obsession was quite hard at first because I have a lot of things that I enjoy on a daily basis but I really dug deep and realized that my one and only obsession is architecture. Architecture has been with me for a really long time, when I was only about four or five years old I would look at all the buildings around me and just think “Ok, well this is what they did” and I was trying to figure out in my perspective what I could do to make it better. This drawing that I made was inspired by a place that I have been going to since very young, the Getty museum in Los Angeles. I’ve always loved that Roman architecture but I also really like the modern look where the space feels open. So, I decided what better way then to combine the two. The drawing is divided by line one side is the modern look and the other side is the look inspired by the Getty, you can see how the forms and the shapes match on each side. I wanted to challenge myself not using a ruler or measuring the proportions because I wanted it really to come from the heart and accept the fact that it may not be perfect but it’s beautiful. I loved working with the Whitney Museum, meeting all these great people with just a pure heart and a passion for art was really life-changing. 

Solenne is from New York, and attends Lycee Francais New York. For her art is her comfort and escape when she is stressed; something she will never gave up on. In the future she hopes to get out of her comfort zone and learn more techniques.

12th Grade
Possum Boy Loves Dino Nuggets

My artwork is ultimately about that moment where you become aware of yourself almost from an outside perspective. It is about understanding the embarrassing almost ironic moments that make you question how normal you really are. It has a heavy influence from a specific type of digital collage meme that is gaining popularity on Instagram that are usually composed by pictures of possums with self-deprecating jokes. I felt very inspired and intrigued by my own obsession with these memes and how much I strangely related to them. That led to me making my own version of a possum meme with a representation of myself as a possum on the streets of NYC under some scaffolding surrounded by trash and dino nuggets. Strangely, I feel like that is an accurate representation of my time in New York.

10th Grade
Addiction

I created this artwork to describe my coffee obsession. I pondered with lots of ideas related to coffee, specifically how it related to mental health. I thought about the way it offers a routine in your life and when you don't have your coffee, something feels off, as if you've broken your routine. I also thought about the way coffee makes you look and how it reflects who you are. That is what I focused on in this piece. The last image is a girl who looks revived and can be seen as if she fits into the beauty standard. The first image barely even looks like a girl, or even human. I wanted to dapple with different styles and even include coffee in my piece. I tried to make the pages look crumpled to describe the way you feel without your coffee. I tried to make it feel almost unfinished, because even when you have your coffee, you're left wanting more. You feel unfinished. That is why I called this piece Addiction. 

Isabella is from New York City, she is half Spanish from Galicia and half American and attends The Spence School. To her art is a very fun way for her to pass the time. She loves painting and drawing and have been doing it for as long as she can remember. It's an opportunity to try new things and experiment while always enjoying herself. It's also a form of self-expression and she often finds it easier than talking. In the future she hopes to create lots of art while keeping her grades up and getting into a good college, perhaps a liberal arts college.