Have you ever wondered how the AP Art students pick their theme and topics they must follow throughout the year? By diving into various pieces and the reasoning behind them, viewers can understand the perspective these artists are coming from.
The various AP Drawing students, like juniors Alfredo Wolfe and Hailey Alexe, work collaboratively, yet independently, in Mrs. Wood’s art room and at home to create pieces that revolve around their chosen themes for the year. When asked about the students’ processes in picking their final theme, Mrs. Wood responds by explaining: “They come up with a proposal that has three different options […] then they present that to the class and they get feedback from everyone in the class […] and they have to narrow it down to their one topic.”
The touchingly deep artwork created by PTS junior Alfredo Wolfe exemplifies his theme perfectly and provides insight on the inspirations he looked to for this theme. Through carefully curated details and thought-out emotions, Wolfe was able to produce a work like this to impact viewers and truly convey his emotions towards the overarching message. While reflecting on how he landed on the decision for his final theme, Wolfe says he “ultimately chose my theme because of this summer. I made a lot of memories – I went to a summer camp with people from all over the world, and so, I knew that I wasn’t going to see a lot of them ever again, so, a lot of those memories stuck with me because I became so close with these people in such a short period of time, and all of a sudden it was gone.” Through his deeply emotional reflection on how he focused on this one message, it was clear that he had a great love for recreating memories and depicting his thoughts of them to others. It was also very clear to me that Wolfe was very passionate about his art and sought to carefully execute it as well as he could.
PTS junior Hailey Alexe offers a unique perspective to viewers of her work by presenting a scene through a keyhole, representing an essential inspiration of her overall theme. By setting up a scene that impacts viewers in its deep, underlying meaning, insight is provided into the various, woven ideas Alexe takes to present her feelings and messages in her work, as seen in this one. While asked to describe the contents of this piece, Alexe reflects: “it’s a keyhole, and then there’s the scene happening inside – because I spoke to somebody that said their abuse, their experiences were always behind a facade – behind a locked door – so I wanted to represent their emotions as well.” Alexe conveys not only her own thoughts and emotions through pieces like this one, but also tries to include those of others close to her, and it is greatly impactful and meaningful to understanding her theme and its message.
Though there is a lengthy process that allows students to truly think about what topic and idea they wish to follow, many expressed that there were hardships and obstacles within this. “The hardest thing is that it’s such an emotional and deep theme, so when you have a short turnaround period to be able to complete the artwork, you have to really just do the art, and there’s not a lot of time to actually put your emotions into it,” Wolfe stated.
As seen in this photo, various AP Drawing students work on their respective pieces in their collaborative environment. While the students aid each other through constructive criticism and feedback, it is easy to see that these students also work hard independently to choose their own themes that reflect their personal feelings and experiences through these pieces. When asked where he works most efficiently and best, Wolfe responds: “I did most of the work at home, because when I focus, I need to focus for a long period of time, so it was hard to get stuff done with only an hour long period of time, and when I would get home I had the rest of the day to myself.” Wolfe further discusses how he needs to have isolation and time to completely put his emotions and reflection into each piece of art, even under time constraints.
As Mrs. Wood adds, the students must carefully choose one topic through careful consideration, like: “in terms of feasibility, are they going to be able to find source images for this?– how personally important is it to them, is it something that they will be able to make 15 pieces about that topic […]”
Ultimately, the PTS students in the AP Art programs were led to making their topic decisions through deep reflection on their life experiences and through inspiration of those around them, which led to beautifully, carefully-thought–out pieces that are deeply impactful.
