February Featured Artist
This month's featured artist is LYDIA UHLAR
What does Lydia like?
Favorite Food - Cheeseburgers
Favorite Dessert - Cannolis
Favorite Song - Cherry by Harry Styles
Favorite Artist - Felicia Chiao
Favorite Book - The Belljar by Sylvia Plath
Artwork
Titled "Holden"
Note from the Artist
This is the eye of Holden Caulfield from the novel Catcher in the Rye. Basically going into to this piece, I envisioned Holden lying sideways on a park bench during one scene of the novel when he's basically homeless in New York City. The street lamp is lighting up one side of his face while the other is immersed in darkness. I made his eyes green because in the novel green symbolizes corruption and loss of innocence. Another reason why the only eye I show is in darkness because Holden is being corrupted throughout the novel. This piece was done in colored pencil.
The Interview:
How old are you? Grade? Family?
I am a senior. I live with my mom and my little brother who is nine.
How did you become an artist? How long have you been practicing?
I have always been very interested in art. My dad was an art major, so he introduced it to me very early in life. When I moved to OA, I found the art program here to be very advanced so that's when I got really serious about it and started building my skills
What inspires you?
A lot of it comes from imagination and things I care about. Also why I started getting into books is because I love books and reading, I like to see what I like about myself and what I like in my life and create that
What is your favorite medium?
Ink and pen, stipple, black and white
Stipple - thousands of dots
What do you like most about being an artist?
I like that I can express myself in a way that is not so direct and people can interpret the way they want.
Do you want to pursue this in the future?
I am applying to my college as an English major, and I want to minor in art if I can.
What does your art mean to you?
Hard work and accomplishments. A lot of my pieces here take a very, very long time, and I see a lot of compassion I put into it. Hopefully, they turn out good; I do love them a lot.
Do you ever create hidden meanings or messages in your work? Explain.
A lot of our work is assigned, but since it’s senior year we get to look more towards ourselves. Right now, I am doing a project with surrealism, which is realistic items mixed with the surreal. A blend of both. That work has a lot of symbolic objects that I like, and I try to incorporate my emotions and the objects in my life that I like and what they represent.
What inspired you to make these pieces?
I've always loved English. I love novels and characters. I also love seeing how characters make a story and how they perceive themselves. I thought perception is such bold and interesting part of books that I wanted to focus on [characters'] eyes and how their eyes see the world around them. I always try to visualize characters the way that I see them whenever I am picturing them, so I can connect with them more. In addition, I believe the eyes are the windows to the soul and that is one of the ideas that the author does not always reveal--you have to interpret it on your own.
What characters are you specifically drawing?
The first character I approached for this project is Holden Caulfield from Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye. He is, of course, a very interesting character who, I believe, does not reveal a lot about himself. So that's why I decided to focus on him and his interactions with the world around him, which he feels is very fake. You can already tell that there is so much to his character and there are reasons for his behavior that are not made clear. In my drawing, I interpret the scene of him laying on a bench sideways when he's looking at New York. It's snowing on him and it's dark and cold. The focus of the piece is his eye, his perception of what is happening. I made his eyes green because in the book that represent innocence being taken over. I just saw him as completely changing into a person he doesn’t want to be.
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