- Sophia Torres ’22
Image also provided at the bottom of the article in its entirety.
Despite the current COVID-19 pandemic, SHP artists are still perfecting their craft, creating more pieces than they ever did before. One student in particular, Kaia Li (‘22), has used the pandemic as an opportunity to further develop her art.
Kaia has always liked art. Ever since she was little, she would doodle on any handout or homework assignment she had. However, she was never really able to seriously get into art because of her commitment to swim. That all changed when she started high school. She loved SHP’s art program, especially all the mediums that are available to her at school. Kaia has a preference for acrylic paints and watercolor, which SHP has been able to nurture with the resources that the Arts Department makes available.
This year, Kaia is in Ms. O’Leary’s Advanced Art class. So far, the class has made an art series about essential workers, and each student had to submit three pieces for the series. While this was a fun unit, Kaia is even more excited for the next unit, which is titled “Another Layer of Me.” This unit also calls for three pieces per student.
At home, Kaia enjoys making digital art and animations. Most of her animations are based on dancers she sees online. She studies their movements and combines a multitude of still frames in order to give the illusion of a dance. These animations are mainly just something Kaia enjoys creating in her free time, but she hopes she can somehow incorporate them into her art class in the future.
In her Studio Art class last year, Kaia created an acrylic painting depicting her father playing soccer as part of her final project. This painting was entered in the 18th Congressional District Art Competition, and the piece won third place! In addition to this award, Kaia also received the second semester Honors Convocation Award for Studio Art last year since she has continued to provide her best work in the classroom.
As we remember the ways that artists have been impacted by the pandemic, we can also celebrate how they have adapted to inspire creativity within others.
