Teacher Name: Joanne Minyo, Miriam Socoloff
Grade: Senior
Materials: Graphite, charcoal, gold leaf, pressed flowers
Dimensions: 14 by 11 inches
Description: I recreated my maternal grandparents’ wedding portrait as a tribute to and way to cope with the recent October passing of my abuelita. She endured countless hardships yet had incredible strength, compassion, and optimism. In recreating her portrait, I sought to continue her memory, reflect on relationships, and confront/ analyze my spiritual beliefs. The title (“reunited” in Spanish) references my beliefs about death. I hope that in the existence of Heaven, my grandma and grandpa are together, reunited, and embarking on a new beginning together. The flaky golden beams around the circle represent their love, energy, and play with the idea of life, roughy resembling our sun’s beams. The interconnected golden hearts simultaneously show their undying love and connection as well as an implied continued purpose/life. The flowers, and the white circle surrounding them symbolize the simplicity and fragility of my abuelita’s state towards the end of her life as well her new start.
Artist Statement: My portfolio tells the story of my evolution as an artist over the last year and a half. Earlier in my high school career, I associated my value as an artist to the level of realism and technical skill I could portray, instead of the message I conveyed or how unique it was. Recently, I’ve worked on changing that, no longer just sketching hyper-realistic charcoal portraits, but instead experimenting with size, color, mediums, concepts, and vulnerability. I think the pieces I choose accurately show the scope of my identity and work- my devotion to social justice issues (COVID-19 and vaccination with Before and After), my deep respect for my family and cultural background (commemorating my grandmother’s passing in Reunidos and detailing a typical Argentinan meal in Bodegón Argentino), and my intellectual curiosity (detailing the first 5 of sociologist Erikson’s developmental stages as expressed through hands with Erikson’s Theory, portraying a song visually with The Uncannily Beautiful Woods). They are connected in that all of them were created with the sole purpose of challenging my artistic scope and reflecting on my sense of identity. Whether I used mediums I had limited to no prior experience in (oil paint, oil pastel, clay, gold leaf, watercolor) or was expressing a topic that was very personal to me (grief and public policy), all of these pieces embody a raw and undefined-ness that comes with trying new things, portraying your underrepresented experiences, and connecting with people at a time when that seems impossible.
I’m motivated to create to connect with a large scope of people, take advantage of the resources I’ve been given from my mother’s sacrifices, and make space for and inspire people who have similar backgrounds as mine. I’ve found that art is one of the most effective ways to start meaningful relationships with people. The emotion you can convey with art transpires most if not all boundaries (political, cultural, language, physical distance, etc).
I’m also driven to create because of the hard work my mother went through in order for me to be in a country where creative expression is allowed and encouraged. I work hard to make the most of it to make her proud and grow as a person. Finally, as a member of many underrepresented communities (low income, first-generation American, Latina, etc) I’m motivated to create in order for people like me to know that it’s okay to be different and that those differences should be celebrated, shared, and valued.
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