Graphic by Tony Lee/The Choate News
Like distant constellations in the sky, Visual Arts Concentration students have spent the past spring term separated by tens of thousands of miles. Although most students are now back on campus, Arts Concentration advisers Ms. Smita Sen, Mr. Aaron Sober, and Ms. Jessica Cuni set out to find a way for new and returning visual Arts Con students — both virtual and in-person — to connect through monthly collaborative projects.
Before student artists returned to campus, they were randomly assigned partners with whom to create a piece of artwork inspired by Ada Limon’s poem “Dead Stars” and the mythology behind a constellation of their choice. After choosing a constellation, the groups were given free range as to what art medium they wanted to use and how they wanted to express their artistic visions. Here’s what they created:
In their search for a constellation, Senching Hsia ’21, Caitlin Whitaker ’22, and Manuela Sepulveda Cortina ’23 came across the constellation Ursa Major, also known as the “the great bear.” The group was drawn to the constellation because it is linked with four Native American stories rather than Greek myths, which Western culture conventionally associates with stars. “We decided that we’re going to do embroidery — make a tapestry — and basically tell the story of these Native American myths through our piece,” said Hsia.
“In relation to the poem, we felt that the Native American story is one that is obviously historically not represented,” said Hsia. “We also thought of making a tapestry as a way to tell a historical narrative, since it’s a cultural art form that has been done over the centuries.”
The group is planning on creating an embroidered tapestry with four vertical panels, each depicting one of the four myths, and stitching Native American symbols onto the fabric. The embroidered thread and panel colors will be in a traditional Native American color scheme of tan, navy, russet brown, and light ivory.
Janet Dolores Rosendo ’22 and Audrey Kaye ’22 were inspired to create a project based on the constellation Cassiopeia. “I was inclined to choose Cassiopeia because we both grew up in a place where it’s so polluted in the sky you don’t really see stars,” said Kaye. “This summer, I was trying to learn how to spot some constellations and Cassiopeia was one of the only ones I could actually figure out.”
The two decided to combine their two specialties — photography for Rosendo and traditional drawing for Kaye — by creating a digital piece.
Rosendo took portraits of her cousin with a dark background and soft white light. Then, Kaye drew on top of the photos using design software Procreate, sketching the faces of women wearing jewelry and sporting vain expressions with deep blue, purple, and pink contours. Their piece represents the self-absorbed queen Cassiopeia in Greek mythology, who was punished by Poseiden for boasting that she was more beautiful than his sea nymphs.
“Essentially, what we were trying to capture in our project was how there was this glorious, radiant, vain queen projected in the sky — a series of photos and illustrations that would show how Cassiopeia sees the world from the sky and how the world sees her,” said Kaye.
Macie Simmons ’22 and Oona Yaffe ’23 took a similar approach of overlaying drawings on top of photographs. Inspired by the Gemini constellation that represents the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology, Simmons drew the black and white outlines of the twins’ faces on Procreate. Meanwhile, Yaffe took film pictures at a garden filled with Greek statues and various flora, highlighting the natural blues and greens of nature and the muted yellows and beiges of the sculptures.
“All the photos that Oona took are based around how the stars and the Greek gods interact with nature, and how they control everything that happens on Earth even though they’re so far away,” said Simmons.
The outline of the faces was then imposed onto the photos and separated into 15 squares by a black grid. Each square was printed out on normal printer paper and the faces will be colored in with mixed mediums.
“I want to use paint pens on one to get a really flat controlled drawing. I’m going to use charcoal on some of them so that they’re black and white, and watercolor on others,” said Simmons. “We’re hoping to get the essence of the poem across and show that there’s a story behind the stars that we don’t really know.”
Rather than focusing on only one constellation, Stella Dubin ’21 and Sean Guzman ’22 chose to feature all the astrology constellations in a project that combines Guzman’s specialization in digital media and Dubin’s in drawing.
Dubin will draw the constellations for Guzman to then photoshop and manipulate so they can be projected onto the ceiling of the Black Box theater in the Paul Mellon Arts Center.
“Essentially, our project is to immerse the viewer into the feeling that they are stargazing, but at the same time that the stars are not only above them but all around them,” said Guzman.
They are also planning on installing reflective material on the walls so light bounces around the room, making it appear as though the constellations are moving. The constellations will transition from day to night, changing from light blues and yellows of the daytime to the dark black, purples, and grays of the nighttime.
Guzman said they hope to convey peacefulness or serenity through their project, adding, “Especially if you’re at Choate, there’s a lot of hustle and bustle. This experience brings the idea of serenity where you can just lay back and watch something peaceful like the stars.”
The Visual Arts Concentration members hope to share their finished projects with the Choate community at the student art exhibition at the end of the fall term.
Artwork by Macie Simmons and Oona Yaffe
