Hazy Light, Silver Key Portfolio, Mia Camp, Lord Botetourt High School

Artist Statement

These works explore the theme of mythical creatures and surreal design. Each of the characters mixes real creatures with fantastical elements. These show that accuracy can be achieved while still being fantastical and leaving room for artistic creativity. Some of the inspiration is clear, such as with the heron characters, which show a similar character with some exaggerated proportions. Others are more subtle, like the snake and gryphon creature, which takes inspiration from the anatomy and features of the animals. It is easier to use animals as a form of abstract expression. People more easily capture distinctly human and personal elements, but animals can show more abstract ideas and unique traits. The creative freedom that drawing animals gives is a large part of fantasy and character design.

Personal Statement

I have always been drawn more to animals and nature than I have been to people. When I first started drawing it was of dragons and dogs. As I began to develop my art skills, I was encouraged to try drawing people. Since most people made art of other people, I was inclined to believe that I should too. At some point, I realised that I did not have to follow the expectations of other people. I decided to put more effort into drawing other animals, and not just a mix of people and dragons. I learnt that it was ok to draw what I enjoyed, rather than drawing things based on what other people like. This was what led me to where I am now, where I can draw all manners of mythical and real creatures.

Home, Silver Key Portfolio, Emily Paul, Blacksburg High School

Artist Statement

The portfolio attempts to capture a home that I will likely soon be leaving as I pursue higher education. I have always felt more connected to the forest and fields surrounding the town than the town itself. The trees and the grasses chattering with the bugs and the squirrels hold great comfort to me. Here, I can see the edge where I feel like I can jump and live away from the high pressure of school, the hustle of the town, and the rushing of the cars. Through hiking and being a farm hand, I attempt to show the beauty in the liminality of the often bleak countryside. However, there is a loneliness in such liminality, where often I have felt isolated by my surroundings, pining to get out. Just like how my surroundings have impacted me, ideas of my impact on my surroundings are mirrored in people’s impact on nature; degrading buildings show a delicate balance between nature’s realm and humans’ realm that is one and the same, a lone chair whispers of a person once present, but that is no longer. Media where fine detail can be expressed was chosen in order to explore the laborious details in my surroundings, representative of the collective hours I have with this place and the hours it will continue on without me.

Personal Statement

Even with one foot in front of the other, how will I ever make it to the top of this hill? The biting morning air nips my face. Flashlights dance in the darkness on the shortest day of the year, slowly merging into the sunrise of the winter solstice. I grew up here, working farmland in the summer, playing in the creeks of Appalachia, and listening to the thrum of woodpeckers echoing through the forest. My favorite brown Karakachan livestock guardian dogs, Cosmo and Elly, weave through the quiet with a soft pit pat as we hike, steering us up the difficult, wooded farm path, through paddocks of sleeping pigs and eerily peaceful geese. When I joined my county’s robotics team, I set out on another difficult path. As a freshman, I was hungry to program and learn to drive the robot. However, I was the token “diversity” representative that STEM environments coveted, but persistent biases affected many aspects of my education and my sense of self. I often felt like a wrongly reported statistic. These places did not have space for women, much less someone whose gender does not fit in a box. The trees clear as we reach the summit of our hike: Potato Hill. Tents with warm apple cider and, of course, farm fresh baked potatoes await. As my body warms and the sky lightens with the sunrise of the winter solstice, so do my spirits. The breathtaking openness is in stark juxtaposition to the earlier tree cover. I see my past that was defined by lack of resources and inequality open up. I am ready for the seemingly limitless possibilities. I am surrounded by coworkers, friends, and family: people who endure the trek with me, enjoying the view together. When I found myself excluded from the larger conversation of gender inclusion within STEM, I organized a group for programmers on my team who felt similarly. I spent afternoons pouring over tutorials and writing code by hand to prepare for our meetings. I wanted to disrupt the predictable system that prevented equal participation on the team by beginning initiatives for kids that target gender and socio-economic diversity. Like on Potato hill, I have learned that having a community beside me is the first step to inclusion. I want to be a pioneer in this community for diverse kids who want to participate in STEM in Appalachia. I am more than a statistic, and they are too. I look forward to expanding my understanding and contributions to intersectional issues by collaborating with boundary-breaking peers to enact positive change. I hope to utilize our collective wisdom to tackle issues like social inequality, which disproportionately affect communities like mine, at a larger scale. Even after a demanding climb, I can enjoy the view. The sun breaks through the horizon bathing the sky in a light silky blue, catching on the frost-laden grass. This community is like a sunrise: full of potential and only brightening from here.