Staff Writer and News Editor
Teens
Inspired, a program run by the North Carolina Museum of Art to better connect
with North Carolina youth, has offered three Apex High School students the
opportunity to have their artwork displayed in the museum. Students were
required to pick a piece of art from the museum’s permanent collection and make
their own piece based on that. The three winners: sophomores Hannah Siegel and Michelle
Stanziola, and senior Brittany Baril, spoke about the competition and the
process behind each of their pieces.
Siegel’s
painting “Shades of a Day” was inspired by Monet’s “The Cliff”. “I was
immediately drawn to Monet’s series of paintings that he created, using various
colors to portray different emotions throughout different times of a day,” she
stated on the Apex High School Art blog, adding in a separate statement, “I
think that I was really able to communicate a message through my pieces. I was
trying to create the message that throughout the day, the environment might
change, but the individual stays the same.” Visit Hannah’s art blog at: http://apex-2016-hannahs.blogspot.com/
Stanziola
found inspiration in the ancient Greek sculptures of Aphrodite for her piece
“What’s the Pointe?” Of all places to create her art she prefers to work on her
own, claiming, “I like working at home because that way I can play my music and
be in my own little Zen.” Stanziola has a lot of experience using many
different mediums of art, “I’ve actually used fire in one of my pieces. I made
a ring of fire and it made it look as if the animals were about to jump through
the ring and the background was tiger skin. I’ve also used wax, I’ve used duct
tape on brick walls and I’m currently doing a piece for the school.” Looking
toward the future, she states, “My dream is to go to SCAD [Savannah College of
Art and Design] but because the budget is not that big for me I might end up
staying in-state.” Visit Michelle’s art blog at: http://apex-2016-michelle.blogspot.com/
Baril
submitted her piece “Mummy in the Afterlife” which was inspired by “False Door
of Ni-ankh-Snefru” an ancient Egyptian sculpture held in the museum’s
collection. “It was just a competition I was told about in art class for 2D art,
so I didn’t really have a choice,” she joked. On her blog she posted, “I had written
earlier that I had hoped to use coffee as the color for the background and not
the color coffee, but the actual beverage to paint with. Yet, I had problems.
My coffee only came in one shade and it was really light. I tried using tea as
well, but that was even lighter than the coffee. I ended up having to use
watercolor anyways for parts of the background. It still looks good, but not
all of it is coffee, which can be a little depressing.” Baril admits she has
plans to pursue her art in the future, “I’m going to SCAD next year, I’ve
already been accepted.” Visit Brittney’s art blog at: http://mysplendiferousart.blogspot.com/
