Some of Chilliwack's most talented, young artists will have their work on display for the public to see.
ART33, the annual district-wide art show for students in Grade 11 and 12, is at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre April 16 to May 17.
Grade 12 students Mariella Tuazon (Chilliwack Secondary School), Caci High (G.W. Graham Secondary School), plus Robin Derksen and Kayley Hagerman (both with Sardis Secondary School) are all part of the show for the second time after taking part last year.
“It's really nice to see so many different people – yet so similar at the same time – come together to show off their art and meet other artists like them. I think that's really awesome,” Tuazon said.
The difference in artwork by the four students is a prime example of the wide range of mediums viewers will see at ART33.
They gathered outside the O'Connor Group Art Gallery at the beginning of April. Dersen held a ceramic pot, High a painting, Tuazon a mixed-media piece, and Hagerman a graphic design piece where she made packaging for a six-pack of drink containers.
Hagerman said one of her favourite parts of ART33 is seeing what the other schools have worked on, or even what different classes in her own school have accomplished.
“The art show is a good opportunity to see what else is out there,” Hagerman said.
She said art can illustrate the problems with society, and how people face those issues, but added that art illustrates things which also make people happy.
“It’s an expression of not just humanity, but what what people love,” Hagerman said. “Everything we take joy in is an example of art.”
Derksen said working with clay is “soothing” and she enjoys putting her imagination and all her effort into creating a piece.
“It's kind of like a little escape. I can make something fun and try new things and really push myself to try different things to express myself.”
Tuazon welcomes people to interpret her artwork any way they want and said her pieces are usually very “fluid” of what the meaning can be.
Her multimedia piece features a painting of a puppet master holding the strings of four marionettes which are three-dimensional dolls that Tuazon designed and hand-sewed. The artwork is about someone expressing their emotions – envy, joy, sorrow and anger – in ways other than using their body or face.
People have interpreted it in different ways: a person controlling someone, an evil person, or a show about a person who's having troubles.
“It really depends on the viewer, and I am open to any sort of view on my arts.”
One piece High has in the exhibition was used as the poster for ART33. It’s of a young woman listening to music with colourful, ribbon-like swirls around her.
“My goal with all my pieces is that I want people to feel that emotion that I've painted. I want them to feel that feeling, that vibe that I've tried to paint," she said. “Music flows differently between every single part of your body. I want people to see how that feels, and feel how that feels.”
The artwork by the four students is as varied as their future career paths.
Tuazon wants to become an animator and do freelance work on the side; she is planning on attending Capilano University for its 3D animation program. Hagerman is going to the University of the Fraser Valley for a bachelor of arts with extended minor in graphic design and another minor in visual arts; she wants to be an art teacher or tattoo artist. High plans to get a bachelor of fine arts at Alberta University of the Arts, and wants to get a PhD to become an art professor. Dersen wants to pursue art more as a hobby, and may or may not make a career of it.
For now, they, along with dozens of other Chilliwack high-school students are focusing on the exhibition.
When the public sees the show, Tuazon is hoping people will come away feeling inspired to make their own art.
“That's my favourite thing ever is other people wanting to become artists after seeing other artists,” Tuazon said.
“Art is people letting their creativity shine and flow," High added. "There's more colour in the world than just going to a desk job and sitting there doing paperwork. Art is the creativity, the colour, the loud, the silence, it's what makes the world a colourful place and not just black and grey.”
ART33, a district-wide exhibition featuring artwork by Chilliwack students in Grades 11 and 12, runs April 16 to May 17 in the O'Connor Group Art Gallery at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre. The opening reception is set for Saturday, April 26 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday. Admission is free.
