Advanced Studio Art Final

My name is Maya Dowling-Wolfe and I’m a junior. I was born in Hanoi, Vietnam and at six months old was adopted by two wonderful moms. In school, I enjoy learning about history, writing, and creating art. During freshman year I fell in love with the game of tennis and now spend most of my free time training for the season. I also love to play soccer, take my puppy on long walks, and spend time with my friends and family. Traveling is one of my favorite things to do because it allows me to experience new things in new places. I am the President of the Class of 2019 and enjoy planning and fundraising for Prom 2018 and Project Graduation. Last year, I co-founded the Civil Rights Team at FHS which I am extremely passionate about. CRT and my art allow me to express my views on social and political issues. In Advanced Studio Art this year I was able to explore the idea of “women”. I have carefully crafted my concentration to reflect the unjust treatment of women through the manipulation of media and sexual violence. While creating most of my pieces I often draw on my own experiences as a woman and the environment I have been raised in.

I find a lot of my inspiration online or by simply flipping through magazines. I often base my ideas off “constructions” of women. One of my favorite mediums is fine point pen which I tend to use on smaller pieces. One of my more ambitious pieces was a 18” by 22” portrait of Aly Raisman created out of dots with a fine point pen. I love working with watercolor because it gives a piece more movement. I often create contrast in my pieces by using watercolor with fine point pen.

Advanced Studio Art has definitely helped me develop my style and voice. When I came into this class, I had done pieces that had tackled political and social issues but not on such a big scale. I am very passionate about social and political issues and I really wanted that to be the focus on my concentration and it was interesting to see my concentration grow as my pieces became more abstract. Creating art with a message is hard! I worked a lot with text this year, probably more than past years.

One of the most prominent techniques I used this year was collaging. I mostly collaged when I didn't have inspiration or when I needed help delving into a piece. I found out that I love this method and I learned how to move from elementary collages to deep, meaningful constructions of women. I also did a couple of stippled drawings this year! It took a lot of patience to be able to complete this drawings but overall so worth it. I worked more proportionally this year with those drawings and worked more out of proportions with my collages. I think both are valuable because I grew more comfortable with portrait and body drawings.

My favorite pieces this year include "WOMAN ABOVE ALL" (charcoal drawing of a woman with cut and pasted words surrounding her) and "STRENGTH" (relatively big portrait of gymnast, Aly Raisman). They are different from each other but show my versatility as an artist. I can do more "playful" drawings but yet do very detailed and intricate ones as well. There are such powerful messages behind each and I think that goes with what I was saying earlier with how I've been able to further develop my voice this year.

Ultimately, art is a platform of which I use to get my voice heard. I create art because it helps me process my ideas and my opinions. I also love making my viewers think and reflect on their lives.

I am excited to see what next year brings! I hope to find a lot of inspiration this summer!