Growing up, I realized that I viewed the world differently than my peers. In class, rather than writing bulleted notes, I’d fill my pages with doodles, understanding the content better drawn out. Small drawings on the corners of my papers quickly became full-blown artworks, sketching my surroundings in the free time I had in class. My art began to truly flourish in high school, and I discovered that I had a real talent when entering my first actual art class freshman year. I took a liking to realism, leading to both of the artworks I entered placing in the State region of VASE, as well as winning a Gold Seal. Winning this award and placing so highly in such an esteemed competition as a freshman felt extremely validating, soon becoming known around my school as the “art girl”, which also further motivated me to want to pursue an art degree. Ever since I was young, I knew that art was “it” for me. It had been calling to me ever since I took my first painting class in Kindergarten. I quickly became enraptured with how the paint flowed across the canvas, realizing I could manipulate the strokes just by holding the brush differently. Finishing my first ever painting when I was only five opened me up to a new world of creativity, motivating me to pursue a degree in the arts. Although I am the most comfortable with studio-based art, I've always had a desire to expand into more digital mediums. I've been curious about graphic design, enrolling in AP 2-D Design after I completed my AP Drawing course. I'd love to improve my digital art, and pursuing a degree in graphic design as a second choice seems like the perfect opportunity for me to do so. Being an artistic individual in a community where there aren’t many others who share the same interests is something that I’ve experienced throughout my entire life. My high school does not recognize artists nor prioritize the art program itself, as we only have one art teacher who is forced to handle all of the classes in the field. In the past AP art courses I’ve taken, I’ve only had about 3 or 4 other classmates, demonstrating the lack of artistic encouragement in our school environment. I’m also the only artistically inclined individual in my entire family, finding it difficult to connect with my relatives on an expressive level. Being surrounded by so many people who lack a connection with art made me realize that we as a society need to place art at a higher emphasis. Art has helped me and many others become more connected to themselves and the world around them, and it saddens me to see its prominence in my community fading. My education, experience, and future within the broader art community will help me to refine my goals in the artistic field, further allowing me to contribute my beliefs on the importance of art in a community. I’ll be able to connect with other like-minded individuals, building strong relationships that have the future potential to shift a global opinion of art’s significance in society.

Throughout my entire life, art and my determination to succeed have remained to be one of my only constants. In all my years of school, I have maintained a schedule allowing me to expand both academically and artistically. I have always made a point to prioritize my future, passions, and personal growth. People come and go, forcing change upon me and those I surround myself with. This idea of personal development and coping with unwanted change has heavily influenced the art that I create, as improving myself is something that I have become obsessed with over the years. My subject of choice has always been people. Ever since I was extremely young, I would find myself drawing stick figures of the people I’d see around me, until these stick figures would transform into actual cohesive portraits. I admire the shapes of humanity, the soft curves of bodies and skin, the rough edges of joints and skeletal framework. Human expression is fascinating to me, and it is something that I’ve made a personal goal of mine to master. I find comfort in creating realistic works of art, as it’s what I was raised to believe was superior to abstraction. “Realism wins the awards, realism is what the judges are looking for.” That is what I was told all throughout my school career. Sticking right to the guidelines of what is deemed to be correct and proper is an ideology that is pushed in most school settings. Although I have many whimsical and abstract ideas, it’s been challenging to act on them without sticking to the thought that only realistic pieces are valid. Over the years, I’ve expanded my variety of mediums, currently the most confident in my ability to work with graphite and colored pencil. Using paint is something that I’m still getting familiar with, the methods to perfect my brushstrokes still foreign. I utilize my utensils to express how I am constantly facing and accepting internal change. I like to consider my portfolio an album of my coming of age, developing from focusing on illustrating others to digging deeper within myself and my own feelings. I try to highlight the beauty in typically mundane environments with color in my work, making the hues more vibrant to create an almost magical, unreal mood in the viewer. However, with my darker pieces, I tend to exaggerate the gloominess of the subject, intending to invoke a sense of sadness or anxiety within the viewer. One of my favorite parts of creating an artwork with pencil is to showcase my linework, which is something I pride myself in. With the usage of techniques such as scumbling and hatching, I can make my works more expressive. My ultimate goal in art and in my future is to be able to express myself freely, which is something that I struggle with doing without my paper and pencil. Words can be difficult for me, but I can allow myself to convey how I really feel through my artwork. My most recent pieces are aimed to express the feeling of being overwhelmed but attempting to mask it; a perfect sum up of how my own mentality is treating me at the moment. Feeling trapped and restricted by your own mind is something far too many people can relate to, so it is my goal to encapsulate that concept in my work. If my pieces can invoke any type of familiarity within the viewer, then I know that I have succeeded in my goal.

Growing up, I realized that I viewed the world differently than my peers. In class, rather than writing bulleted notes, I’d fill my pages with doodles, understanding the content better drawn out. Small drawings on the corners of my papers quickly became full-blown artworks, sketching my surroundings in the free time I had in class. My art began to truly flourish in high school, and I discovered that I had a real talent when entering my first actual art class freshman year. I took a liking to realism, leading to both of the artworks I entered placing in the State region of VASE, as well as winning a Gold Seal. Winning this award and placing so highly in such an esteemed competition as a freshman felt extremely validating, soon becoming known around my school as the “art girl”, which also further motivated me to want to pursue an art degree. Ever since I was young, I knew that art was “it” for me. It had been calling to me ever since I took my first painting class in Kindergarten. I quickly became enraptured with how the paint flowed across the canvas, realizing I could manipulate the strokes just by holding the brush differently. Finishing my first ever painting when I was only five opened me up to a new world of creativity, motivating me to pursue a degree in the arts. Although I am the most comfortable with studio-based art, I've always had a desire to expand into more digital mediums. I've been curious about graphic design, enrolling in AP 2-D Design after I completed my AP Drawing course. I'd love to improve my digital art, and pursuing a degree in graphic design as a second choice seems like the perfect opportunity for me to do so. Being an artistic individual in a community where there aren’t many others who share the same interests is something that I’ve experienced throughout my entire life. My high school does not recognize artists nor prioritize the art program itself, as we only have one art teacher who is forced to handle all of the classes in the field. In the past AP art courses I’ve taken, I’ve only had about 3 or 4 other classmates, demonstrating the lack of artistic encouragement in our school environment. I’m also the only artistically inclined individual in my entire family, finding it difficult to connect with my relatives on an expressive level. Being surrounded by so many people who lack a connection with art made me realize that we as a society need to place art at a higher emphasis. Art has helped me and many others become more connected to themselves and the world around them, and it saddens me to see its prominence in my community fading. My education, experience, and future within the broader art community will help me to refine my goals in the artistic field, further allowing me to contribute my beliefs on the importance of art in a community. I’ll be able to connect with other like-minded individuals, building strong relationships that have the future potential to shift a global opinion of art’s significance in society.

Throughout my entire life, art has remained to be one of my only constants. People come and go, forcing change upon me and those I surround myself with. This idea of personal development and coping with unwanted change has heavily influenced the art that I create, as improving myself is something that I’ve become obsessed with over the years. My subject of choice has always been people. Ever since I was young, I'd find myself drawing stick figures of the people I’d see around me, until these stick figures transformed into cohesive portraits. I admire the shapes of humanity, the soft curves of bodies and skin, the rough edges of joints and skeletal framework. Human expression is fascinating to me, so I’ve made it a personal goal to master it. I find comfort in realism, as it’s what I was raised to believe was superior to abstraction. “Realism is what the judges look for.” That’s what I was told throughout my school career. Although I have many whimsical and abstract ideas, it’s challenging to act on them without sticking to the thought that only realistic pieces are valid. My ultimate goal in art is to express myself freely — something that I struggle with doing without my paper and pencil. Words are difficult for me, but I can truly convey how I feel through my artwork. My most recent pieces are aimed to express the feeling of being overwhelmed but masking it; a perfect sum of how my mentality is currently treating me. Feeling restricted by your own mind is something far too many people can relate to, so I want to encapsulate that concept in my work. If my pieces can invoke any type of familiarity within the viewer, then I know that I have succeeded in my goal.

I was drenched in sweat, my curly hair sticking to my face. The rush of exhilaration swept through my body as I swung my racquet to take my final serve of the match. It was an ace, finalizing my victory. Cheers erupted from my teammates as my opponent and I shook hands, and I walked off the court wearing a smug smile. My grandmother was there to pick me up after the game had officially ended, her hair wrapped snugly into a bonnet. She wore a proud smile, ranting on and on about how I was “our family’s own Serena Williams” and how I would be the “next Black star”. I just nodded and stared at the sweat rolling down my caramel-colored arms, wondering why being compared to Serena Williams never sat right with me. My caramel-colored skin is a result of the mixture of races from my parents, who are African-American and Caucasian. My mom wears her race with pride, wearing her hair in huge afros and boasting shirts stating “Black Power” as often as she can. My dad, however, doesn’t like to bring up race, carrying the belief of not seeing skin color and only judging a person for their character. Although I agree with my dad’s motto in the aspect of not discriminating against outward appearance, I’ve found it difficult to ignore race altogether. I’ve always struggled with identifying with being biracial. Ever since elementary, I’d always been one of the only kids who was part Black. My mom dressed me every morning, styling my curly hair into buns or twists depending on my outfit. I never thought anything of my hair, not considering race at all when she would take me to the Beauty Supply store to buy gels and creams or hair for braiding. I never questioned why my classmates would say my hair smelled funny or reached out to touch my curls. I also never questioned why I did not sit with the other Black kids at school, too young to notice how I didn’t feel quite a part of them. This racial ratio only grew smaller when I entered high school, as I became the only Black girl in the advanced courses I took, realizing how uncomfortably obvious the lack of diversity was. My classmates are mostly either White or Asian, and although I love my friends, I feel like I can’t relate to them in the way that they can relate to each other. They share culture and experiences that I’m not a part of, and it often feels like I don’t share that bond with anyone. For my whole life, I’ve felt like I’m fighting in a racial war. I’m weighed down with anchors hammering that I’m not “Black enough” or “White enough”, saying that I’ll never truly find my identity. I think I can now say that I’ll never let myself be defined in those simple of terms. I am biracial, a mix of the best of both worlds. Saying that I’ll be the “next Serena Williams” based on my race is ignoring an entire other half of me. Disregarding half of my identity is diminishing what makes me who I am.