Art

In my photography, I value the representation of complexity and isolation within complicated systems. I believe it is impactful to accurately render the environmental conditions of a landscape or portrait. However, the goal of communicating a particular message justifies authorial interpretation. I have drawn inspiration from visual artists like the Algonquin Seven, Alphonse Mucha, and Georgia O’Keefe just as much as I have incorporated the techniques of modern photographers like Jamie Windsor, Peter McKinnon, and James Popsys. The artistic portrayal of people and places which have shaped my identity drives me to improve the immersive qualities of photographs, to make my compositions palpable. To reflect the visceral reactions I have experienced in preserved areas, I try to limit the number of human subjects in my scenic photos, those remaining being dwarfed by overwhelming ecological features, in order to instill the value of nature’s enormity and non-human complexity.

Brian is a landscape and portrait photographer who hopes to pursue a career in ecological study and economics. He believes his photography provides a creative outlet that allows him to apply his appreciation of biodiversity and travel in a way, which promotes the people, and places that have facilitated his personal and professional growth.

Find Me in a Fish Tank is a watercolor and ink illustration I made for my AP Art class this year. Find me in a fish tank is piece about self-reflection. The girl on the right is sitting in a contemplative pose and calmly pointing at the fish tank in front of her; however, instead of containing normal marine life, this fish tank contains a smaller figure of the girl – one who is getting dragged to the back of the fish tank by an apparition. The fish tank represents the girl’s inner thought process and consciousness, which simultaneously hides in its own shadows and begs to be helped and understood. I chose to draw the bigger girl with black ink, but to use watercolor for the rest of the painting in order to show that the version of the girl that people see is incomplete and surface level, and something far more complex – more colorful – exists within her.

Yana Lipnesh is a senior at Wayland High School in Wayland, Massachusetts. She’s won a number of Scholastic Arts and Writing awards for her illustrations, and her art has been featured in numerous exhibitions around the state. When Yana isn’t creating art, she’s probably watching movies with her foreign film club. Her favorites include 400 Blows and Mon Oncle d’Amerique, but she’s always open to seeing something new!

My parents are Hungarian immigrants to Canada, and I have always been intrigued by this part of my personal history.

Over the course of the Hungarian Revolution’s three weeks, an estimated 3,000 civilians were killed, making it a deeply traumatic historical event. I have always felt that certain aspects of this trauma have carried into the present, both in material and immaterial ways.

In the graphite piece attached, I explore the material impact of historical trauma. After several weeks interning at a Budapest hospital last summer, I saw the physical damage inflicted on the city during the revolution. Even over 60 years on, many buildings that were damaged in the revolution have never been repaired. I was captivated by the irony of hospital nurses casually lounging against this backdrop; they are the subjects of this piece.

Meanwhile, the second piece is my attempt at interpreting my grandmother’s recollection of this historical event. At the time of the revolution, she was a young woman living in Budapest. She has described seeing incredibly violent scenes unfold during her day-to-day commute. In this piece, I attempt to capture her resulting trauma through a harsh, surreal composition; the brushstrokes are jagged, the background harsh; the buildings are purposefully organic and flame-like, while the single tank is shapeless, almost melting. Thus, this piece focuses on the immaterial, psychological after-effects of historical trauma.

Irma is  a current junior at Sentinel Secondary School/École Secondaire Sentinel in West Vancouver. She is passionate about the arts, especially poetry and illustration.