Foul Play!

Olivia Klein

Anna Miller

Andy Boxold

Maysen Baxter

Madeline Rielly

Nikita Kohring

Madisen Baxter

Ella Smith

Sabrina Lipp

Ava Biltswitch

Sophia Steinmueller

Seance Williams

Jenna Sparling

Phoenix Medley

Anna Miller

Jennyfer Loizeau

Madeline Rielly

Ave Goorbarry

Iliana Beauchamp

Makena Senzon

Caitlin Villacrusis

Sophia Steinmueller

Eduardo Culmer

Syreeta Ferguson

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dull Knives You Wield

to During Summer

What was the inspiration for your piece, “Tainted”?

“The inspiration for my piece was my grandma. When I was little, around four years old, I would always go strawberry picking with my grandma, and it was one of my favorite memories. Always going out to the farm with her every weekend and picking some strawberries was one of my main experiences as a child.”

What does your artistic process look like?

“I actually dislike making the little finger thumbnails that we have to do for class. This year, I realized it's more helpful taking reference pictures. After I take my reference pictures, I do quick thumbnails in my sketchbook, little three by three drawings, where I try to figure out the proportions and what I want to do on the bigger piece of paper. After I figure out my proportions and my references, that's when I move on to my final piece of paper. I do a light sketch and then I go in with different layers of my Prismacolor pencils.

What artists inspire you and how do they influence your art?

“I love (Jean-Michel) Basquiat because he demonstrates expressionism in his work through symbols, and that's what I wanted to do in my work. I've been putting a lot of symbolism in my work this year. I love the different symbols and typography that he uses in his artwork to express his feelings at the time.”

What do the elements of this piece symbolize?

“My childhood wasn't always the best, and a lot of people’s (childhoods) weren't the best. I wanted to portray that, growing up, your childhood memories start to become tainted as you start to experience life and more realistic experiences. I start to think more about my bad experiences rather than the good experiences (while) painting my childhood. I think about my childhood in a more negative way and forget experiences like picking strawberries with my grandma. … (The viewer) wouldn't recognize the hearts and the blood at first and then, when they saw the hearts, they’d be like, ‘Oh, well, that’s another side to the story that we didn't really understand.’”

What impression did you want your piece to leave on its viewers?

“I want them to realize that not everything is as it seems. There's always two sides to the story. Even our perfect memories can become skewed based upon our other memories that might affect it.”