2018-19 AP Studio Art Exhibit

Student Statement:

Inspired by the novel Us, this installation was created and displayed as a metaphor of the main themes of the novel: conflicts between individuality and social unity. The lamps ascending from the interior of the staircase is a representation of individual wills breaking through the utopian, stressful social order. 

Student Statement:

A clown is someone who puts on a smile and shows the world their impressive tricks and gives people pleasure. Whether they are unmotivated or sad, they still must put on a show and disguise themselves under their thick makeup. Sometimes I feel like I’m living the life of a clown. I feel pressured to always show my best self and impress others with what I have. That’s why I’ve created a broken clown with all its string rested on the ground. This clown is true to himself and comfortable with who he is, a state I aspire to be. Hence, the title, “May I rest?” is asking a question to be rested from all the expectations and pressures we face.

To create this work I used a wire to create the basic frame. I used clay to create the flesh and used acrylic paint to give it color. The hair is made from wool, and I used a mesh wire for its crown. The clothing is made from scrap fabric, and I sewed the collars. The hands below are made from plaster molds of my own hands.

Student Statement:

This piece was created as part of my 3D Design concentration. My central focus was to recreate fashion designs from the turn of the century, specifically from 1890 to 1910. Initially, I was interested in the construction/bones and various aspects of these designs: bloomers, bustles, headdresses. However, as my ideas progressed I became particularly interested in how the physical constraints created by the garments were also reflected in the economic and social status of women at the time. This piece, inspired by the ribbon at the back of a corset, was created as part of my final few concentration pieces. Rather than just creating a traditional fashion piece, I decided to utilize abstraction to create a sense of suffocation in the viewer. I constructed the piece by repeatedly tying long strips of leather around the model. The artwork immobilizes and increasingly covers the face rendering the individuality of the model irrelevant.

Student Statement:

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Teacher Statement:

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Teacher Statement

This student had struggled with forming a cohesive concentration throughout almost the entire year. She tried many different projects, but felt that they lacked passion and depth. It wasn’t until she showed me her vacation pictures that I realized THIS was her concentration. We turned them all black and white, and when we did, everything came together. I showed her that once these colorful landscapes were turned to grayscale that it was no longer about the pretty colors of the flowers, but about the shadows, depth, contrast, textures, and all the other detailed elements that completely changed the photographs meaning.

I am always having my students step out of their comfort zones to explore different subjects and techniques in photography that they would not have chosen to do on their own. This is my first year having the opportunity to teach AP Studio Art, and my fourth year teaching photography, and the main thing that I have learned is you must relate and inspire your students to fuel their art. If you as a teacher show and share your passion for art with your students, even by having a sketchbook sharing day and participating yourself, it can create a spark of inspiration in them that will lead into a fire.

Teacher Statement

This student had struggled with forming a cohesive concentration throughout almost the entire year. She tried many different projects, but felt that they lacked passion and depth. It wasn’t until she showed me her vacation pictures that I realized THIS was her concentration. We turned them all black and white, and when we did, everything came together. I showed her that once these colorful landscapes were turned to grayscale that it was no longer about the pretty colors of the flowers, but about the shadows, depth, contrast, textures, and all the other detailed elements that completely changed the photographs meaning.

I am always having my students step out of their comfort zones to explore different subjects and techniques in photography that they would not have chosen to do on their own. This is my first year having the opportunity to teach AP Studio Art, and my fourth year teaching photography, and the main thing that I have learned is you must relate and inspire your students to fuel their art. If you as a teacher show and share your passion for art with your students, even by having a sketchbook sharing day and participating yourself, it can create a spark of inspiration in them that will lead into a fire.

Student Statement:

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Teacher Statement

This was YueTong’s second year as an AP Studio Art student. After she submitted her drawing portfolio as a Junior she had to rethink her natural approach to art making. Her ability to beautifly render her subjects and unique approach to project objectives would be pushed to the limits incorporating the elements of meeting the 2 Dimensional Design portfolio. YueTong explored the art of illustrative storytelling throughout the year. She created an impeccable portfolio and tapped areas of art making I don’t believe she ever would have, had she not been pushed outside her comfort zone. She embraced the “new” and went all in.

The narrative for this project was Art and Anatomy, where students were asked to explore the idea of incorporating scientific illustration of human skeletons with nature. We watched a Ted Talk by Vanessa Ruiz entitled “The Spellbinding Art of Human Anatomy” for inspiration. The main guiding question posed to the students was, how can the human skeleton be used as a subject to communicate meaningfully about the nature of humanity? YueTong’s solution was quite interesting, exploring the juxtaposition of nature playing the part of what humans do now in a laboratory, thus manipulating the relationship between the two as we see it now. She created a beautiful illustrative solution to the thought provoking relationship between nature and humanity.

Student Statement

I, Sarah Karagoz, thank you for the honor of selecting my work, "Eye, Eye, Eye! What am I?!!", as an entry in the AP Studio Art Exhibit this year. The concept for this monochromatic piece is to be a visual representation of self loathing. It was inspired by the struggles I personally dealt with growing up. The illustration shows the perspective of an adorable, little girl staring into her reflection and viewing herself as a grotesque and appalling creature. Green is chosen as the primary colour because it helps reflect the feeling of disgust. The specific media I apply into this piece are a collaboration of black ink, green acrylic paint, a small selection of color pencils, and markers. Creating satire of issues real people face is a preference in my artistic perspective. My goals in the nearby future are to be a graphic novelist and cartoonist. 

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Teacher Statement:

This piece was the result of Jack’s continued growth over the course of the class.

In my class, I try and create a safe, open and endless environment to express new ideas through brainstorming and ideation. Almost any idea is worth exploring, especially those ideas that don’t seem worth exploring. I promote collaboration and evolution of artwork through experimentation and personal growth by pushing my students to step out of their comfort zones.

While these are advanced students, I also focus on teaching and reinforcing the basic elements of art and principle of design. With Jack’s work specifically, he worked with color, repetition and pattern. My students also research different artists and techniques which will help them get a better understanding of how other artists use the elements and principles in their work.

To help promote new ideas, my student and I will brainstorm ideas and words verbally until the student is inspired. Jack is a talented student who only got more talented by honing specific skills related to critical and creative thinking. Over the school year, his body of work increased in quality as he began to really learn to think openly and without restraint.

My advice to other AP Studio Art teachers and students is to just keep exploring and to keep growing.

Teacher Statement:

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Student Statement

My art is a critique on the societal constructs that are placed onto the backs of marginalized individuals. There are too many standards to which we are held to. I create my pieces as a form of protest, a way to escape the constructs that i navigate on a daily basis. The black and lgbtq+ experiences are two themes that i return to frequently with my art as they are the ones that i am most closely connected to. As a self-taught artist who doesn’t see people like himself represented in the world of pop culture and art, a vast majority of my pieces come exclusively from my own life and ideas that i get from my own individual experiences. My hope is to create awareness and constructive conversation through my digital artwork and portraiture and create a more inclusive, visible space for people like me.

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Teacher Statement:

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Student Statement:

This art work is taken from my concentration. My concentration exhibits the theme of silence. The mouth of a woman is covered with paint. This suggest that she is unable to speak her thoughts. Through covering movements of paint strokes I wanted to show my audience that women can have difficulties in expressing their opinion nowadays. Nevertheless it is 21st century and some of the countries gave women full rights, there are still many countries where women are oppressed in their freedom. In my collage I used a journal cutting of a young woman and an old woman. I sticked  both of the pieces together to form a whole person. By doing that I wanted to say that no matter the age any woman may become a victim of such oppression and therefore should take action against it. In my opinion, art should bring individuals together and spur them on world-changing actions that would benefit the society. Art should bring unity and peace to the world. 

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Joint Student and Teacher Statement:

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Student Statement:

My composition theme was based around the decomposition of living things and in this particular piece I was looking to show the effect of a corpse on the surrounding environment, mainly the death of plant life. I tried to create a balance of the scientific aspect of the concept while also incorporating my own dark and creepy art style. For similar reasons I also chose an ink pen medium, as I like the precision of the fine points and the pitch black color. All of this combined makes for an unsettling composition that is beautiful in its own twisted way.

I found when making this piece I had the most trouble with getting the high contrast I was looking for, because at first I was too nervous to go in too dark and it wasn’t until quite a few layers in before I decided to fill in the blackest black areas, like the center of the flowers.

While I am happy with the result, even now I see where the subjects could use more work, and I don't think I’ll ever be able to fully right off a piece as complete in my mind, so to me success is learning from my mistakes and knowing that next time I’ll be able to do better.

Student Statement:

Finding the theme for my concentration was embarrassingly difficult. It seemed like nostalgia was the only idea that I could actually devote 12 pieces to in such a short amount of time. Feeling as carefree as a child is something really appealing to me and I wanted to try to convey that through art. However, the problem with choosing childhood memories is they are very personal and specific to my life, so it was challenging to create art that expressed my nostalgic feelings effectively to other people.

Each piece in my concentration is reflective of a memory that feels special to me when I was younger. Some of the memories I chose are crystal clear, so I would try to express that using a more realistic style. Other memories are more of a feeling I had, so I tried to reflect that by making the artwork feel dreamlike and fuzzy. The Christmas lights painting is of a happy memory of checking to see if all the lights worked on each strand before we wrapped our Christmas tree. It is a mundane task, but for some reason is special, and stuck out in my mind as a fond memory from my childhood. I primarily used acrylic paints, but added some neon watercolor to enhance the color of the lights. 

Teacher Statement:

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Student Statement:

This work was created primarily as a tribute to how game culture has shaped the way some people think, and I’ve learned from both games and my art that there are many ways to achieve the same goal. On a sanded piece of wood, I painted some blocks of primary colors and pieces of grey to start as a simple base to grow from. Then, using pencil I began incorporating the intricate designs and wiring schemes seen. Some pieces are colored with ink, which provided an interesting effect with the way the wood took it. There are hidden references throughout the piece that may not always be understood, however they are found to be still pleasing to find. What I find most rewarding about being an artist and creating in general is that people can interact with your work and leave feeling different than their peer. Everyone finds something that speaks to them, one way or another. Even if they believe they see nothing, they still had to look. I just want people to look.

Student Statement:

Growing up, I've always been attracted to astrology and it's ability to allow me to get to know myself better, as well as the people around me. At the time that i was creating Duality, I'd noticed how we all have aspects of our personality and character that aren't always the easiest to bring to light. Instead of suppressing these out of shame or embarrassment, through this piece i wanted to celebrate this 'shadow side' that we all have as imperfect human beings. Naturally, I came from the angle of the aesthetics in the zodiac signs, where personally I have a libra sun (the 'light') and a scorpio moon (the 'shadow'). My intention is to remind the viewer of the importance in embracing those qualities within ourselves that are a little more uncomfortable to face. In being completely compassionate with your entire being, you can only become invisible.