Traditional Art
The traditional art section primarily showcases works from AP Studio Art with acrylic painting, pencil, ink, and watercolor. These works focus on real life social and personal issues through realism and self-portraiture.
2018
Acrylic on Canvas
WHY
This piece, by far, is what I consider my most successful piece in terms of composition and color. This is the piece I created during a stressful period of time, when I was experiencing art block along with heavy workload from most of my classes. I could not think of an interesting composition and all the sketches I showed my teacher were not approved.
I needed to visualize my feeling of helplessness and frustration and portray it on canvas. I wanted to ask myself "WHY" I was feeling this way so that I could get to the root of the problem. That was how this composition popped into my mind. The aerial view of the viewer looking down onto the subject puts the viewer in a position of power and the subject is portrayed as helpless. The subject is standing on a pile of books that have negative works on them such as “stress” and “anxiety. "The sole red book with the word “WHY” is at the top of the pile, since it is the final question that comes as a result of feeling all those negative emotions.
While the rest of the books are greyscale, I chose to make the “WHY” book a striking red to draw attention to it and to give a sense of anger and frustration. The subject is standing on the red book and looking down and the viewer is also invited to look at the books and ponder why one might feel this way. This is a piece that speaks to its viewers since they can relate to the subject.
Torn Sheets, Broken Keys
2018
Ink on Paper
This is a heavy piece that illustrates my complex feelings towards the piano. There were two activities that I remember participating in from a very young age: drawing and piano. Having taken extracurricular classes for both, I can say that piano was a rather rigid experience for me. My teachers would instruct me on exactly how they wanted me to play every single note. I would have to practice single measures over and over again to ensure the sound of every single note was to their liking.
I have had multiple piano teachers throughout my 10 years of piano training, and I noticed that each of them had their own style and expectations. For instance, one of my teachers wanted me to play a certain piece with heavy emphasis on every note, but when I transferred to the next teacher, I would be instructed to play it lightly. Thus, I acquired many techniques from playing so many different songs, especially those of high difficulty.
However, it wasn’t until after I passed the level 10 CM test and decided to end my piano training, that I was finally able to interpret music in my own style. That moment is captured in the torn sheets and broken keys which can symbolize breaking free from rigidity as well as tearing apart what I had learned and reconstructing a new image from it.
Becoming Digitalized
2018
Acrylic on Canvas
A piece visualizing the digitization of myself. It can serve as a commentary on digitization of modern society, especially when we put ourselves and our own information online.
Architectural Study
2017
Ink on Paper
A drawing that contains various pieces of architectural from downtown LA and my high school.
Flower Study
2017
Pencil on Paper
A study using pictures I took of flowers with black and white silhouettes.
Asian Vegetables
2017
Acrylic on Canvas Paper
A painting I did of Asian vegetables in my house.
Hair
2019
Acrylic on Canvas
Since I had short hair at this time, I imagined what it would be like if my hair had limitless possibilities, hence the unnatural colors and shapes.
Mice, Marigold, and Mafia
2017
Ink on paper
The prompt was to include a plant, animal, and game that started with the same letter. As the title suggests, I chose the game "mafia." Watch out for the cheater~
My Cats
2019
Acrylic on Canvas
Based on a picture of three cats sleeping under some leaves in my backyard.
Red Fall
2019
Acrylic on Canvas
An imaginary dream-like scenery I created using trees at my high school as reference.
Melt
2017
Acrylic on Canvas
This can be literal interpretation of "melting under pressure" which many people including myself experienced in junior and senior year. I also wanted to experient with distortion.
Woodblock Print
2017
Woodblock Print
A self portrait that I cut out of a block, printed multiple times, then colored in various ways. I chose this red background version as the final version.
