Bri Yee

I chose to center my portfolio around my culture and how it's affected my personal experiences. Being Asian-American, I’ve always been a bit different compared to my classmates, and that lent me a unique perspective of the world — having American societal standards at school while living with the Chinese traditions in my family. My starting piece, Ribbons for the People, brings about the idea that I’m being pulled in all directions because of the ideals and stereotypes everyone expects me to have because of my ethnicity. The hands are pulling away the ribbons of my life experiences, clouding how I used to view them and making me forget the happy moments in my childhood due to racism and society's expectations. As I progressed through my portfolio, I tried to clear up the haze through reflecting on my past and remembering lost memories. Because of this, I’ve been able to recognize how my actions and how I perceive myself have been affected by people’s judgments. Making these pieces have helped guide me towards finding myself, and they’ve taught me to have pride in my heritage.

My final pieces bring everything to a close by focusing on current issues that are affecting all Asian-Americans. It’s quite ironic how I came up with this theme at the beginning of my senior year, isn’t it? Instead of ending it without a noticeable finale, I decided to make a piece that highlights how my present-self is being affected in order to eventually enlighten others in how their actions and words can hurt people in the smallest ways. In contrast, my ending painting, Little Things Mean Big, represents my hope for brighter days by remembering our past experiences, respecting others, and embracing our own cultures.

In addition to my portfolio pieces, I added past logo designs I've submitted to contests as I believe they represent my capabilities in other fields of art that I've learned through my years in high school.

Block Printing Ink

Graphite