Artist’s Work Captures Emotion
May 30, 2017
“I love art because it is a way to express myself differently and be creative,” said freshman Katie Ye, an aspiring artist on the rise.
Ye has been experimenting with art since she was five, but started a more serious approach to painting when she was in sixth grade. “It’s really cool to explore some new art forms,” she said. Her artistic roots lie in her hometown near Shanghai, China. “I did some Chinese brush painting in my hometown. . . I entered some [artwork] in the classes there,” she said.
“I always tend to paint when I feel really solemn, or if it’s a windy day I get really inspired,” said Ye. “I just use a variety of colors to express my mood, and use tones of different colors, varieties to express to myself.”
Ye’s inspiration comes from a close family member, and she follows in her artistic footsteps. “Most of my inspiration came from my sister, because she would always be working with pastels and painting for art competitions at school,” Ye said. “She was basically inspired a lot by Monet and Van Gogh, and then all the striking colors, she would tend to do that, so I basically kind of just copied her, and then developed my own style.”
“Recently I’ve really been into painting humans and finding flesh tones,” said Ye. “I’ve mainly focused on landscapes and easier stuff like flowers before, but I really want to open up my views on painting.” In the past, Ye has entered her artwork in competitions with other students. “I’ve entered it in the reflections contest for middle school, and some of the creative arts and writing painting categories,” she said.
“We entered together, and she entered four art projects,” Ye’s close friend, freshman Julia Zapanta, mentioned. “Before, she used to draw cartoons, she would just do small doodles, but now she’s trying to draw realistically,” Zapanta explained.
As a freshman, Ye recently painted for a project in her Modern World History class. “I just did a painting of a girl for our Holocaust reflections, and then that came out pretty good,” she explained.
“All the details were there, including the sad look on her face and in her eyes, which is really hard to paint,” said librarian Sarah Morgan, who had the chance to see Ye’s artwork. “It takes a really talented person to paint emotion.”
In terms of Ye’s style, she likes to explore the meaning behind her work. “If I’m feeling really moody on a particular day, I’ll make my paintings more dark,” she said.
Ye used a painting of a girl as an example. “Say we have this girl’s face, and it’s cut off, and then the rest is a skeleton,” she said. “I like that shows a deeper side, and a more emotional side of the painting, and have a bit darker side,” she said. “That’s something I really admire from other artists, and something I’m trying to open more up to.”
“She doesn’t really have a lot of time to do it [art] since she does a ton of extracurriculars,” Zapanta explained. “She doesn’t really have time, but when she does, she’s super passionate about it,” she added. “She makes sure that she does it all the way and she doesn’t stop halfway.”
In the future, Ye hopes to become more serious with her artwork. “I’ve never taken lessons, so I don’t have a lot of experience with how to mix colors, and how to layer different coats of paint, so I just want to learn more and expand,” explained Ye. “One day if I improve a lot, maybe I’ll start selling or show it.”
“As a young person she seems to be very professional already,” Morgan said. “She’s a very well-rounded person and a very well-rounded artist.”
