On April 18, the Allen Harvey Theater hosted PHS Art and Ceramics Classes 1-4, digital design, and digital photography in an art show. Art students and art teacher Gillian Bailey said the show was very successful.
Photographer, soon-to-be photography major at the Pratt Institute in New York, and senior Chris Fung took digital photography last semester and is now in digital design. Two of Fung’s pieces were showcased.
“I like capturing the moments of [a stranger’s] life and trying to tell a story with one photograph. I try to produce a photograph that when you look at it, it makes you think about the subject, what they’re doing in that moment, what their day was like, and what kind of life they live,” Fung said.
A lot of Fung’s pieces are taken when he travels. Fung said that he likes to explore to find new spots and moments when he is somewhere new.
“I think a lot of foreign countries are just really interesting to me in terms of culture and scenery,” Fung said.
Fung, adorned with the Bay Area Youth Foundations’ highest honor award, the Presidential Award, and a Silver Key from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, said the recognition from art shows is nice. But, he said the most valuable aspect of an art show is the inspiration you get from other artist’s pieces.
“I think a lot of the pieces that the upperclassmen made were really interesting and really cool. The paintings [also] looked really nice,” said Art I student and freshman Kajsa Benson.
Benson also had their artworks displayed at the show. Benson said they really enjoy art and plan to continue to take art courses throughout high school.
“AP Art has really taught me to look. There’s so much more to people than what’s shown,” said AP 2D Design student and junior Inaya Majid.
Majid was also recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing awards. According to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards website, “[Scholastic Awards is] the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens.”
Since Majid is in AP Art, her work was not in the most recent show but was displayed at the AP Art Show earlier in the year. Majid’s pieces were about the complexities of her experiences with type 1 diabetes.
“I do a lot of carved work. Then I layer [the carvings] on top with paintings and things like that. It’s supposed to symbolize internal struggles that only can be seen if you get closer, or if you get to know me, and then there are struggles that you can just see from outside,” Majid said.
Majid said she also incorporated her culture into some of her pieces.
“I felt like it was a beautiful way to weave [my culture and illness] together,” Majid said.
Majid said the art show and the art presented was a very powerful way to connect people.
“All the art was really different. It was wonderful. There wasn’t a lot of cookie-cutter art. I think the projects that show the student’s personality and artistic voice are the ones that really stand out to me,” Bailey said.
Fung, Benson, and Majid said they felt that working on an art piece is an effective de-stresser.
“I think art is a nice way to express myself creatively. In terms of photography, it keeps me going outside and just appreciating some of the smaller details in the world around me. It’s [also] always really satisfying to see a project come to fruition and be finished. That’s really rewarding to me.” Fung said.
