Photo via @STJTWEET on Twitter
Students from St. Joseph's Catholic High School recently had their art pieces featured in an Art Showcase held at the Common Ground Art Gallery at Mackenzie Hall, from April 5 to April 14, 2018. Some of the students featured were grade 12 students Sabrina Sisco, who also organized the event; Raine Wheeler, and grade 11 student Julianna Stein.
Each artist has their own personal story. As for Julianna, she’s always had an interest in art. “I’ve been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember, but I really started getting into it around the age of 8, when I took my first art class.”
It was a different story for Raine. In his interview with Laser News, he says: “I was first interested in art in Grade 5, but by Grade 8 I got exceptionally better and I’ve been drawing ever since.”
Sabrina always had an eye for art, and her after school activities often consisted of doing arts and crafts for hours on end. Now that she’s older and has gained experience and practice, she began to explore different mediums and is still always learning new techniques.
The reason behind an artist's interest can really help viewers fully understand the art piece and why it looks the way it does. Raine expresses that “art isn’t a subject, but it is a subjective and objective, so while I might not be good at it, I can still do it, and I enjoy it, so I do it!” and that kind of confidence is what really makes Raines art authentic.
Sabrina had more interest in the art of photography. She has a talent for it, and says that she enjoys art because “it is usually my time to myself where I can let whatever thoughts come to my mind manifest themselves in the work I produce. I also love being able to manipulate the world around me through my lens and see it in a different way.”
This art showcase was held to highlight and recognize young artists at St. Joe's who express not only themselves, but their interests and beliefs in their works of art. Julianna shared that because skateboarding is one of her favourite past times, she likes to channel it into a lot of the art that she creates. For Sabrina, she finds that her art is better without a plan or concept, for the sole reason of getting creative with her surroundings, and that she usually ends up with photos that play a lot with shapes and depth of field. For Raine, he really enjoys a controversial art piece and that his concepts are usually “disagreeing with people“ and “to question and challenge what is socially acceptable.”
This showcase was a great opportunity for the students of St. Joes to show off their skills. Art is a form of expression and for some it is used as “an outlet to unwind and think a bit.” Sabrina felt that “the visual arts scene at St. Joe's was often overlooked by many and I wanted to change that by helping us gain some exposure. I thought organizing an art show would be a great way to start.” She was absolutely right. These students do in fact plan on pursuing a future career in the arts––as a graphic designer, illustrator, and photographer. This is only the beginning for these very talented artists, as the roots that have been cultivated at St. Joe's continue to develop!