Step 1: A fascinating sketch of various arms, intertwined together. Then a girl with multiple eyes, an eerie but captivating black and white painting. Step 8: Another painting of a girl, this time with beautiful flowers blossoming out of the crystal teardrops on her face. Next to it, a big red piece that compels people to take another look; With paintings of oranges, apple cider, and a small piece of paper under it that helps others understand the deeper meaning. Seniors Marina Khoury and Yiyi Tu kicked off the start to this year’s senior art exhibitions on September 13th. With crowds of excited students gathered in front of the library and platters of delicious cookies, it was a lively environment in which to introduce the Bishop’s community to the artists’ innovative artwork. Both extremely talented artists, the exhibition had a variety of paintings that captivated the attention from students of all ages.
“I’m really grateful for the opportunity to showcase my work alongside Yiyi’s,” Marina said. She explained how after working through the full progression of Studio Art classes at Bishops and completing an independent study in art history and experimentation last year, she wanted to display some of her work. Yiyi noted, “It’s such a long tradition; I remember last year a lot of my friends that were seniors did it, and it was a moment for them to showcase their art and also show a part of themselves.” She added, “their art was very cool and the exhibitions were wholesome”, and so she really wanted to share her art with the Bishops community too.
MARINA
Many of Marina’s striking and unique pieces are centered around repetition and the human form. She grew up surrounded by art, as her mother and grandmother are artists, but she explained how she started enjoying the process in Studio Art at Bishops. When talking about her artistic journey, she said, “I started out with somewhat tame graphite still-lives,” she said. “From there, I continued to work at semi-realistic drawing and started branching out with media as a sophomore.”
Marina loves the push and pull of art; she said, “The subject matter may, of course, be pushed far beyond the realm of reality, but each mark on the page can also be modified. I get to amplify, minimize, and alter at will—a deeply rewarding process.” In her artist statement, she wrote, “Throughout my process, I prioritize what I find most interesting and fun to create. I hope that even if you’ve tried and failed at some projects, you make something new — because while you might not be the same type of artist as someone else, art can be for everyone.”
Marina noted that these two pieces are the most meaningful to her, because they’re inspired heavily by her friends and family. “Spending so much time transcribing the details of my close relations gave me a greater appreciation for the space that they take up in my life,” Marina explained.
Many of Marina’s pieces include eyes, and often, more than two of them. Marina likes drawing eyes, but she also explained that they symbolize her interest in the idea of watching. “In drawing a portrait, I spend many hours studying the same photographs and anticipate that my piece will be seen by more people than I know. Somehow, it feels strange that the portrait should never witness its myriad viewers.”
These two pieces were drawn with graphite and Sharpie on paper, and the raised material is black gel medium. Marina explained, “Gel medium is typically used in acrylic painting to modify the paint's texture, but I thought it would add interest to my backgrounds.”
YIYI
Yiyi started art at a young age in elementary school, but she explained that, “after we moved back to China after living in the U.S., there was a lot of academic pressure. You had to take tests to get into a good high school or good middle school, so it was very stressful and I didn't do art when I was in China.” She recently picked it back up last year when she moved back to the U.S., and Yiyi explained how all of the pieces that are in this exhibition were made in this short span of time. She reflected, “since then I’ve grown up so much, and my pieces have transformed from imitation to self expression.”
“Last Dance” (above) is one of Yiyi’s favorites because of the special meaning behind it. Yiyi described how this piece is in memory of the star ballroom shooting that happened in Los Angeles last year, while the attendees were celebrating Lunar New Year. “It should've been a very happy and joyous moment for them, but there was a shooting, and so this painting is imagining a table in Star Ballroom, and what would have been on it.” Apple cider, sweaters, and hands on a table add to the community feel of the piece and the red tablecloth ties the whole artwork together. Yiyi explained that she chose red for the tablecloth color because it not only represents good luck for the Lunar New Year, but it “makes it a very haunting painting to look at.”
This is another one of Yiyi’s pieces with a special meaning behind it, called “Love Yours.” Yiyi explained how this piece was inspired by J. Cole’s song, “Love Yourz,” in which he sings there is “no such thing as a life that's better than yours,” and “beauty is in the struggle.” These lyrics resonate deeply with Yiyi, as last year, transitioning into the School was a challenging time for her. But she explained how reflecting back, these hard times turned into fond memories. “I look back and I say, I’ve changed so much, and I've grown so much, and I'm really thankful for those experiences.” This painting shows that tears from sadness or challenges can blossom into beautiful flowers. “It's just a reminder to be thankful [for] your life, and to have faith when you’re facing challenges.”
A unique part of the exhibition that showed a different side and dimension of Yiyi’s art was her sewing section. Sewing has always been a passion of Yiyi’s, and what began as a childhood dream of becoming a fashion designer turned into having over 10.8K followers on her Instagram sewing account. (@yiyisews)
Visual Arts Chair Ms. Elizabeth Wepsic and Costume Design Teacher Jean Moroney have always been there to support Marina and Yiyi’s artistic journey. “Ms. Wepsic has been an amazing guide for my artwork throughout middle and high school, so I was excited to work with her in curating an exhibition on campus,” Marina said.
