Join us for First Friday, May 6th 2011
Works featured by AP Artists from St. David’s School
Hal Cooley – Amanda Dixon – Gray Hipp – Matt Johnson – Anh Nguyen
7pm-10pm
117 S. West Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
There is something incredible about high school artwork. Many students take art in high school only to fulfill a Fine Art requirement needed to graduate. There are some who approach the art classes as opportunities for the “easy A” or to socialize. There are some who need to create art because of unexplainable compulsions to express information. All these reasons are legitimate but the latter is what makes high school artwork so interesting. I read once that the most pure form of art is teenage love poems. Whether or not I believe this statement, I find that the all-out, no fear, highly emotional tendencies of youth, are if anything, refreshing.
This grouping of students represents my senior AP Studio Art class. I have taught them through out the last three years in various classes including Drawing I, Drawing II, Drawing II, Painting I, Painting II and Graphic Design. At this point they have concentrated their skills and concepts within a body of work that is true to themselves and continuously evolving.
Stephen Shingler
St. David’s School | Upper School Art Teacher
Hal Cooley
This body of work concerns pressure. The way in which we interact and think as humans is directed by the pressures in our lives. This concentration was an investigation of how exactly these physical, emotional, and spiritual pressures were a part of my life. With time, the pieces evolved from a collage type construction that used the real world materials concerning pressure, such as blue prints from a piping facility, to a realistic representation of which objects or challenges actually exert the pressure, such as a frustrated fist made of paper currency. While each represents a different pressure, they are all relatable in the way in which they have influenced my decision making, actions, and relationships. Upon viewing my work, I seek to help the observer discover how such forces are also a part of his or her life, and how pressure can take on a different role from person to person, based on their reaction to it.
Amanda Dixon
My discovery of silhouettes was in no uncertain terms a complete accident. One horrible day sophomore year, I decided, a bit melodramatically, to heal whatever deep pain had been inflicted through art. As all good artists do, I then went to Google images and searched “lonely”. The result was a water color and ink piece and a newfound passion for silhouettes. Thus when the time came to decide on my concentration, silhouettes were an easy solution. However as I later discovered that category is both broad and extremely limiting in various ways. After some soul searching and a demand from my art teacher to in some way unify the scattered work I was calling my concentration a plan emerged. Silhouettes are powerful. Our human intuition is great enough that often all that is required to know a person’s state in a particular moment is their outline. A silhouetted can convey powerful emotions better even than an expression, because it displays the simplicity of form and through that simplicity the power of raw emotion. So what I have produced is not a random collection of black outlines, but my goal was a story, a journey in fact. I have no idea where you are on this journey but I wish you blessings along the way.
Gray Hipp
My art stems from my curiosity with nature. The way organic compounds grow and decay, morph and evolve. I attempt to concentrate on the ever changing cycle of the natural world. When spending time outside one notices how the organic world is filled with structure. I chose to focus on this. I am fascinated by the small things, the details. The process of examining the details and structure in nature is how I began this body of work. Looking back my pieces have evolved from the examining of structure in nature to how structure is broken down within nature.
Matt Johnson
When it comes to photography, light is an important element to take into account. Most photographs rely on manipulating light to augment the subject that the photographer wants to capture. In each of my photographs, I have strived to make light itself the subject of my work. Whether by finding obscure light sources hidden in everyday items or constructing a way to disguise the nature of a light source, my goal is to elicit a second glance from the viewer and cause them to investigate each photograph.
Anh Nguyen
Art is a phenomenon. It is hard for me to imagine how many people are able to express themselves through art or simply be touched or astounded by art. For me art is the door that connects my mind, dreams and imagination of a somewhat unrealistic world with strong emotion to the outside world. Therefore, a lot of my works are abstract forms, emphasizing in texture and different hues. Sometimes the artworks help me express my emotion and thoughts, especially through the way I apply the material. Material has an impact clearly in my work. The way each materials react together affects my concept in a surprising way. When I make art, I usually don’t think or have exactly a whole image in mind but the ideas and creation of the work grows as the materials grow together.
