Francis Lewis artists Yuxuan Hu and Vivian He have been accepted into the P.S. Art event, an annual art exhibition in New York City that celebrates the artistic achievements of art students in New York City public schools. Hyperrealism is the theme of this year’s exhibition, which is a genre of painting and sculpture resembling a high-resolution photography.
“Hyper-realism came out during the 20th century because of inventional photography,” art teacher Mr. Lee said. “In the 19th century, artists painted the commissioners’ faces realistically because back then, they didn’t have a camera. We have a camera, we have a phone, and we take selfies using our phone.”
“However, in the late 19th century, because of the invention of a camera, people took their picture, so they did not hire artists to paint their face,” Mr. Lee said. “During the 20th century, artists tried to find their own way. So some people tried to go with abstract expressions. However, other people, since they can take pictures from outside, and they can bring that picture, bring it to their own studio, and use it as a reference.”
The P.S. Art competition is a yearly public school arts festival where teachers across NYC public schools send in their students’ work to be displayed. Mr. Lee has submitted 3 art works this year and 2 of them were accepted.
“For PS Art, if a school has multiple art teachers, the school may submit up to six applications total, with a maximum of three per teacher,” Mr. Lee said. “Because of the limited number of submissions allowed, students cannot apply to these contests directly. Instead, teachers review and select the strongest works to represent the school.”
Mr. Lee discussed the process of helping his students in their quest for expression through art.
“I observed their skills first, and then I tried to find what they tried to express,” Mr. Lee said. “Because in art, it’s self-expression, so everyone wants to express different things. And my role as a teacher, I have to capture what they are trying to express because most of the students don’t know what they need to do.”
“They may not be able to explain what they want to do, but they have something in their mind,” Mr. Lee added. “So I have to catch what they want to do, and something in their mind, and I have to express it. I have to develop their personal taste and artistic skill.”
Sophomore Yuxuan Hu discussed how she found inspiration and guidance through things she’s observing in her daily life. Further analysis of The Blossoming Flower shows how the color of the flower correlates with the emotions of the artist, using shading as well as deep colors to make the flower pop out and depict emotion.
“The flowers represent and express my growth, which is like the flowers growing,” Hu said. “I didn’t know how I could use art to express my feelings, so I started to observe my daily life [and] think what should I do or what should I include in my artwork.”
Vivian He explained how using an array of colors helped convey her personality, but also represented her past with food inside the bowl. Vivian try to use symbolism within her art piece to try and convey a message to people looking at the artwork.
“I really love cooking, and so I think that was another aspect of what I like and my hobbies,” Vivian said. “The dish is symbolic for myself and my identity because it’s about everything that makes up me. The meat would be my flesh, the soup would be my personality, and the toppings would be all of my friends around me.”
“I wasn’t really aware that there was an art contest at first, but when Mr. Lee gave me the option to enter this contest, I thought it was a good opportunity for me to put my art out there and also start building my resume,” Vivian said.
Vivian offered advice for students wanting to pursue art.
“They should step out of their comfort zone,” Vivian said. “If you’re not liking the journey, then there’s no point in creating anything.”
