By OLIVER STRICHERZ
Reprinted with permission from The Southerner.
Close your eyes and think about art. Picture the process, the skill, the medium, everything from concept to completion. We may envision this all as something singular, the product of one, yet the creative spirit isn’t powered by that of a lone soul, but rather a community. Creation is nurtured in the hands of community – it takes its final form after the processes of inspiration and construction, both charged by the existence of those around us. Ms. Berger’s first hour painting class is a small, but passionate example of a creative community in action.
Near the door of Ms. Berger’s first hour class sit three students in Painting 2: Junior Elisa Tamay, Junior Merrick Golden, and Senior exchange student Tamara Genart. Through different experiences and connections to art the three students help each other out, share their opinions, and create a collective space to produce works they feel proud of. When reflecting on this group, Golden added “Having a small group away from the big group helps us get more in the zone for painting, to relax and put our ideas on the paper.”
As stated before, these three artists have had different experiences and connections to art, especially in school. Unlike her two cohorts, this is Genart’s first time taking an art class in school. Back in her native Belgium, the school system does not include art education, so she has had to take classes either after school or on the weekend. She appreciates the ability to be able to do art in school, and claimed that she “wishes [she] had art classes [in Belgium].”
Because of her distinct situation, Genart didn’t focus on art until the pandemic. On the contrary, Golden and Tamay have both done art since they were little. Golden reflected on his past with art, telling a story of how doodling with friends in kindergarten led to a further love of art, and gave him experience with collaborating in community. He went on to describe doodling with his friends as helping him stay creative. Tamay also likes to doodle, but “wouldn’t call [herself] an artsy person” and values how art can visually describe and preserve her past and current experiences with life. She was reminded of this recently when she had looked through old sketchbooks and found art that she had made during a tough time.
Photo Credit: Elisa Tamay
The works created by these three artists in Painting 2 prove to be skillful and full of passion and creative meaning. The most recent work of Golden’s is a reinterpretation of the famous painting The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Aptly titled The Great Bath Wave, this piece shows the infamous wave, but in place of the boats, there is a rubber ducky. To create a vibrancy in the waves, Golden shaded different blue hues together, something he enjoys doing greatly in his art. One of the most recent pieces in Genart’s catalog is titled My American Daily Life. This piece vividly depicts the image of a coat hung inside of a locker, employing techniques like shadows and textures to create a beautiful perspective. Genart submitted this piece to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and went on to win a Gold Key, one of the highest honors a high school artist can receive. A previous work of Tamay’s is made out of a different medium – glass and paper! For this untitled piece, Tamay was tasked with covering different cutouts that she had placed inside the glass. She then painted the frame white, as she thought it would give the piece “a little touch”.
If anything, this small community has created the ability for Genart, Tamay, and Golden to realize a fuller potential. We create better together; the feedback that comes from working with others is a test trial to the reception of some of the most vulnerable things we can create. At this table in Ms. Berger’s Painting 2, these three artists create with a vision for tomorrow—collective, curious, and creative community.
Oliver Stricherz, a junior, is in his first year as a staff writer for South High School’s The Southerner. He is “driven, angered and interested” in human rights and dynamics, hoping to explore human stories.
