Salem High School’s Visual and Performing Arts Academy had their 2021 Senior Art Exhibition from March through April at Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach.

VPAA visual arts instructor Melissa Schappell calls the visual arts academy a “home away from home.” Schappell notes that opportunities presented in joining the art strand are the “creative community, artistic and personal growth, specialty art experiences and equipment, visiting artists and masterclasses, and real world art practices.” Schappell loves students’ “individuality, varying perspectives on art and life, their creative problem solving approaches, and their drive.”

Below are the winning pieces and incredibly talented work from Salem High’s class of 2021 senior art academy students.

Gallery • 25 Photos

Abigail Hulling

(Acrylic) In a data-driven ranking done by Time magazine of the hundred most significant people in history there are only three women listed. In a world where history is often recorded by those in power, only women who are loud enough to be eliminated are remembered, and, even then, they are easily overwritten, their stories altered, or their work miscredited. My thesis explores how societal bias has erased records of the achievements and impacts of women, and why that is damaging to human progress. I was drawn to this topic because throughout my schooling experience a majority of the historical figures that I was taught about were part of demographics that are praised and held as the golden standard by my society; usually they were white and almost always they were men. The thought that only people born into narrow demographics were responsible for the majority of humanity’s development never sat well with me. While countless women have managed to surpass the societal bonds placed onto her at birth, her story was likely to go untold, altered, or heavily criticized to the point of demonization. Human history is written primarily by dominant demographics and, because of this, stories of women’s achievements and impacts have been easily miswritten and ignored.

First Place and Senior of The Year

Michelle Beerli Chagoya

lucid

Digital Illustration 

“My goal with this piece was to project how everyone’s specific projection of reality is different from each other, and how your sense of self is in a way defined by how others perceive you. The confused figures show how you can still exist through the memories of others, but having your body expire means you lose your direct connection to humanity. Having a body gives you recognition of self, for that reason I made the figures heavily distorted and specter-like, but still recognizable. I chose to do this digitally so I could experiment with overlays and filters only specific to digital art. I wanted to accomplish something in this medium that I couldn’t do in any other medium.”

Second Place

Jude Dutton

Portrait Study 

Oil on Wooden Panel

“A straightforward study of face incorporating techniques such as alla prima, and mixing various colors and values independently as paint. This piece’s primary goal was to help me practice with painting and mixing with oil paints and with wet-on-wet techniques. A major result of mixing colors independently and simultaneously as I paint each section of the piece is that I am able to get more diverse colors which can create interesting results. In the skin for example, there are a number of different variations of the base skin color which range in hue, value and saturation.”

Jude Dutton

Sitting Portrait 

Oil on Canvas

“In this oil painting, I’ve chosen to explore artistic elements such as the manipulation of color and the association of different hues between values in order to create a more balanced and intriguing composition. My primary motive with this choice of the piece’s color scheme is to act somewhat as a moment in time and to reflect personal and post-contemporary themes, that of melancholy and contentment in the present-day, that could help one to get a glimpse into my life when this was painted. I’ve made the overall gradient of the piece to gradually travel through various other colors before settling completely on another base hue; The bright yellows as they darken become more grey, then pink/red, and then into the realm of blues and almost-blacks. I have taken influence more from personal experiences and thoughts more than I have taken artistic influence from other people. I wish to pave my own artistic path and explore my own potential. In this case, exploring my own personal style is what I’ve been working on this past year and have explored in other artworks, but this is an example of a piece that begins to specifically explore subjects such as portraiture.”

Third Place 

Brooke Powers

Egyptian Mythology Wheel 

Digital

This work of art represents and reinterprets the hierarchical structure of Egyptian mythological deities. There are eight gods/goddesses pictured with their corresponding symbolic animals in alignment. All are circulating the ninth, central god, which is Ra, the Sun god, a deeply important figure in Egyptian mythology. However, each divine being is crucial to the representation of their beliefs, as the most predominant deities showcase the most important values to their culture. While reminiscing on historical mythological artworks, this piece also references modern ideals through its unique form of idealization created by combining poses, postures, and gestures that remind one of current-day advertising with more traditional elements such as 3D reconstructions of ancient Egyptian leaders, customary Egyptian eye makeup, and nude forms. The color scheme alludes to conventional designs as well with the gold, turquoise, and scarlet that past Egyptian creators frequently utilized in jewelry/royal garments. The combination of these archaic, religious figures being paired with more approachable digital media creates a sense of irony, but also shows that while there may be a divide between current and historical artworks, their similarities in overarching importance are evident. Mythology allows a look into the minds of ancient people, helping those who study it better understand how humans have evolved over time. That past is important, allowing humanity to learn and grow exponentially as future people learn from their current and past selves.”

Brooke Powers

VACANCY 

Acrylic on wood panel

“When creating this piece, I focused on how people tend to enter and disappear from each other’s lives very quickly. The loss or gain of a relationship can serve as a simple personal lesson, or it might hold more significant meaning depending on the individual context. Since we meet thousands of people during our lifetimes, everyone can feel like a “people motel” occasionally, especially in situations where they feel used or temporary in others’ lives.  I juxtaposed a figure full of tiny, fairy-like houses with a retro style motel sign to enhance the “people motel” idea, however, instead of simply filling the figure with motel room doors, there’s something unique on the interior that reminisces on childhood imaginations.  There’s a stark contrast between what most of us expect to see in our futures as a child, like our best friends in elementary school staying with us throughout our adult lives, compared to what we actually end up with.  These temporary interactions with the people in our lives is no different.”