What was the inspiration for your piece?

“I like to draw things that I think are pretty, and [I] wanted to experiment from what I had been doing before with mediums. My neighborhood has a lot of areas with plants and wild animals. I’ll just sit there, and it’s very nice.”

Why did you choose to work with a primarily red and blue palette?

“[The piece is] mostly about water, and then the blue also contrasts really strongly with the red. It helps the red elements, like the flowers and the heart, stand out more.”

Why did you select this medium?

“I wanted to experiment and do [something] different from the traditional paintings I had been doing in previous years. Also, fabric gives a good surface [to work with] that is malleable and every time you hang it, it lays in a different way. It's really interesting, and I prefer painting with acrylics on fabric over other surfaces.”

What was the hardest part of making this piece? How did you get through it?

“I had a very limited amount of fabric, so I had to fit the outer piece around the inner piece in a very specific way because, otherwise, I would run out. Then, I got through that by layering it more around the piece and letting it do what it wanted instead of trying to make it go in a perfect way.”

Is there some kind of theme or message you want to portray with your piece? Why that theme specifically?

“My concentration for last year has been about using nature to represent emotions, the physical body, and how everything is ephemeral and will die. Nature dies, people die, your emotions go away, eventually. I think that human bodies are really interesting, and my own body is the easiest to draw from—drawing women is accessible and being in nature makes me feel good.”

How would you describe your art style? 

“I guess sort of realistic but with a lot of vibrant colors. Some of my friends call it body horror. [I realized] by not trying to force yourself to have a style and making whatever feels best for you to make, you’ll realize how you like to make work.”

Who do you look up to in the art world?

“So, the very first artist that I was ever inspired by, coming into Dreyfoos, was this old guy whose name is John William Waterhouse. He paints kind of Greek, but very ethereal pictures. The way he paints people and draws from mythology is interesting to me, and how he paints skin really soft and delicate. Then, I started getting into watercolor, and I was really into Elena Rosada and Shane Wool. The way [Rosada] layers colors with watercolor is captivating and [gives] skin more vibrancy.”

What do you hope to accomplish when it comes to your path in art?

“I want to develop as many skills [as I can] so that I can portray my ideas most effectively and explore everything. There’s just so much that is out there to learn. Learning for the sake of learning is what I love doing, and we’re only alive once, so we might as well get as much of everything we can.”

Where did your art journey begin?

“In elementary school, I had a friend who drew anime, and I was like, ‘Teach me.’ I was never good at anime, but in seventh grade, I want[ed] to do the visual arts program at Bak [Middle School of the Arts]. For four months, I drew every single day for several hours, and I auditioned and got in. 8th grade as a visual major was great because it was a lot of skill building, which is a good foundation to have.” 

Table of Contents

Scenic Design for Arcadia………………………….Katherine Garcia

Dark skies in a Metropolis………………………….Cooper Weisman

Collection inspired by Basquiat………………………..Olivia Horan

Survivor……………………………………………………………Shae Johnson

Their Story…………………………….Yasmin Ali (and Erin Hoffman)

Curving street……………………………………………...Alyssa Gonzalez

South Florida’s Mountains……………………Christian Chantayan

Skeletons in the Closet………………………………………Anna Miller

good people feed the poor…………………………….Margo Mandell

Homecoming………………………………………………………Katie Davis

Untitled (forest)……………………………………………………………..Sam

Heart……………………………………………………………...Kerry Sullivan

A-W-E-S-O-M-E………………………………………..Skyelar Wiedrich

Golden Gate…………………………………………………Quinlyn Janson

GLASS RONA……………………………………………………..Olivia Siller

homecoming………………………………………………………Kaja Andric

Triptych…………………………………………….Moriah Charles-Pierre

Repressed…………………………………………………………Isabella Lobo

when I was a little girl…………………………………..Allegra Cintron

The Florida Grasshopper………………………………….Jaclyn Cohen

midsummer………………………………………………………..Olivia Siller

rebuilding………………………………………………………Penelope Ryan

inner mind……………………………………………….Giovanna Romano

ignite………………………………………………………………..Isabella Lobo

d isintegratio n………………………………………………….Kyra Kramer

Reflection…………………………………………………..Samuel Schwartz

a character study in color theory………….Emma-Jade Cantrell

altered perceptions………………………………………………………Zelia

nude women…………………………………………………..Amalia Garcia

Mi……………………………………………………………………..Kyra Kramer

for every star in the sky……………………………………Kaitlyn Chen

twin telepathy………………………………………………..Amber Hansen

unnamed azalea bush…………………………………..Phoenix Medley

flow…………………………………………………………………..Jaclyn Cohen