The annual Honors Art Show is a tradition at GA where students from all honors art classes have the opportunity to display their work for the community to see. The 2021 showcase is currently on display in the Art Center with works from 2D, 3D, Sculpture, Photography, and Digital Media honors classes.
Alex Cai ‘22, part of the Honors Sculpture class, says he is most proud of his 1,000 cranes sculpture piece, and says it’s, “the most impromptu one” but “represents [him] the best”. At first he was worried about not being able to fold all the origami cranes in time, but he said, “Now it’s second nature. I don’t even need to fold more; I have so many already. I just do it anyway because it’s just part of who I am.” The piece is based on an old Japanese tradition that claims anyone who can make 1,000 origami cranes will be granted their most desired wish. Cai went on to mention that as an Honors Sculpture student, it means a lot to him to have his art displayed. In reflecting on his own art practice, he said, “I think the most important thing is to be creative. And when you grow up you lose touch with a lot of those things…I want to explore creativity and I just want other people to feel that, too…art is a place where you can make your own rules.”
Riley Dowd ‘22 is in the Honors Photography class this year. She says that “my trip to Europe and taking many pictures going into her freshman year” made her want to take the class at GA. While working on her most recent collection she “worked a lot with flash and lighting,” which is a skill she says she “has gotten better at because she did it last year as well.” Her other pictures in the collection highlighted “fall and nature” and she is looking forward to “taking pictures around the theme of water in the spring.” In the future, Dowd wants to continue photography as a hobby and maybe even take an art class in college.
Charlotte Harobin ’22 started sculpture classes freshman year and is now currently in Honors Sculpture. Charlotte said that she mainly finds her inspiration from other artists. She said, “I’ll see some aspect of someone else’s product and I’ll kind of want to do something like that. And then I incorporate parts into whatever I’m doing next.” While Charlotte does not plan on continuing art as a career, she hopes to continue it as a hobby.
Ella DeCardona ’23 is in Honors Drawing and Painting art. This year, she has focused on making her pieces with the inspiration of water. She describes how she thought of water figuratively, saying, “I thought about how mankind has created ripple effects over the past several hundred years. Each action leads to a significant consequence.” DeCardona’s water piece has a deeper meaning, depicting how people have caused “permanent, rippling effects on the environment.” It means a lot to her to have her art displayed to the community, and she says, “Like the ripple effects in my piece, I hope that my own art can cause ripple effects in the community and inspire others to create art even if they don’t believe in themselves.”
The Honors Art Show is a fun way for artists to showcase what they have been working hard on throughout the start of the year. In addition, it can help student artists feel more confident with sharing their personal work with the community. To see the pieces mentioned in this article and many more incredible art pieces made by students within our community, visit the Arts Center gallery in the coming weeks!