Mia Radici (left) and Emma Henning
Students display art at local show
They are student artists at Scripps Ranch High School. Their work and their character can be described using the same definitions: Deep. Sometimes dark. Absolutely-creative and refreshing because of their unspoiled, sincere thoughts. It’s inspiring to view their creations and hear them describe their work in such a personal and honest manner.
Their work was displayed at Savagewood Brewing Company in an art exhibition, and the March 5 opening night served as a fundraiser for the Scripps Ranch High School Art Department. The students adorned the walls with colorful creations painted on skateboard decks and surfboards. Some of the paintings were bright and happy, while some were eerie, introspective, complex. There was an interesting throwback trend toward psychedelic styling.
Emma Henning displayed a skateboard deck painted with a collage of bright designs inspired by a video game she plays. While the piece took a lot of time, it’s gotten a good amount of praise online, “So I’m proud of it,” she said.
“I like doing art that’s about games or universes that already exist, but I like to edit and make my own creation out of it,” she explained.
Henning intends to pursue studies at college in industrial design. She plans to design products and would enjoy designing toys the most.
“I really like bright and colorful games the most, or games that have realistic but also fantasy aspects at the same time,” she said. “Anything that involves the use of imagination.”
Mia Radici displayed her work portraying a female skeleton-like figure.
“I really like drawing skeletons,” she said. “I like to take regular people and regular poses and I like to either do half regular face-half skeleton, or I just like to morph it into a full skeleton. I just like to do my little spin on it and make it kind of creepy.”
But creepy is not a word one would use to describe Radici. Instead, she might be described as a happy teenage girl with a bright future. Radici plans to major in business, possibly finance or marketing at Pace University in New York, where she is headed on a field hockey scholarship.
“Dia de los Muertos has really influenced me. I think that art is beautiful,” she explained. “Ever since I’ve seen Day of the Dead artwork and just the whole festivity and day, I’ve just become in love with skeletons and I just think it’s a cool aspect because in the end we all look the same underneath.”
Junior Kayla Dees is taking art for the first time and had been working on sketches for the most part, although she said she has been painting on skateboard decks since the beginning of this semester.
“I mostly draw people and faces … I was inspired by Japanese culture and anime when I first started drawing,” she said. “But now my style has evolved into more a cross between anime and Disney … I mostly draw females.”
Dees said she is undecided about where she will attend college but might stay in-state to take her general education courses before deciding on a major.
Kacey Roche began taking art classes at the school last year and likes to paint on all kinds of different surfaces. She does mostly painting and some photography.
“I’m very passionate about it. … It’s something I like to do,” she explained. “It doesn’t really feel like work when I do it. It feels like something fun and I can show my creative side and just have a stress-free class.”
Roche has not selected a college yet, but she plans to major in psychology and hopes to have a career as a forensic psychologist.
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