Athletics, academics, art: the three A’s which help characterize ACP. When one thinks of art, artists such as Van Gogh may come to mind; however, art is more than merely drawing a picture, even though Van Gough makes it look easy. Along with athletics and academics, art takes hard work and patience, for it may become tedious due to the long hours spent working to create a masterpiece. Artists, both known and unknown, learn to overcome the equivalent of “writer’s block”. One artist at ACP shared her newest piece (pictured to the left), and dissected the ins and outs of the final project. 

Solika Nhean, current junior enrolled in AP Portfolio (2D), commented on her newest piece. Although it does not currently have a name, she expressed how she would call it, “Even Her Children Kill”. Her piece, a watercolor painting, (pictured left) depicts Mother Nature and “how she is affected by climate change and global pollution”. She continues by explaining how man destroys Mother Nature; how only a small portion of her beauty still exists. Solika then continues by expressing ideas for future pieces by saying, “I might go through with my raw beauty concept.” She emphasized how her theme is not yet concrete, but she centers her pieces around one central idea. She clarified her idea by saying, “I find flawed beauty attractive… raw beauty is hidden in them [an individual].” She expresses raw beauty as being the small, unique, every day qualities that may be overlooked. These small details make up one’s identity, and Solika is determined to portray these attributes in her art.

Solika’s passion for art blossomed at an early age; she explained how she feel in love with it as early as six years old and has continued with it since. She decided to express herself in Ms. Krom’s AP Studio Art because she enjoys the freedom involved with it. “It’s mostly a you class…” she explained, “… I feel at this point you have the maturity and experience to do what fits you best, and so that’s what she [Ms. Krom] allows you to do.” In addition, Solika has taken an art class since she came to ACP- Erie in seventh grade. She has watched the art program grow and change and emphasizes the rigor involved with each course, but clarifies how Ms. Krom is always willing to work with a student. Her advice to any aspiring artists is to express yourself in art and work your way up to AP.

As Solika explained before, beauty is everywhere and “comes in so many different forms…” Beauty within art contains both figurative and literal meanings, which can be represented through the color scheme, hidden figures, emphasis on objects, or even the name of the piece. In her original painting, multiple aspects of literal and figurative meanings are displayed. The vibrant colors in contrast to the dark, destructive neutral colors help emphasize the destruction, mentioned by Solika in her description other piece. As Solika said, art is “like wordless beauty.”