Artistic Expression Through Art

February 14, 2020

Academics

GNS

For Soleil Watterson ’20, art is a way for her to express her inner creativity by using her personal development in her art pieces. She will curate her artistic expression at the IB Art Exhibition being held from March 4 to 6 in the lobby of Denford Hall. Soleil will display a variety of art pieces that include watercolour, oil pastels and pen and ink pieces.

“My art pieces are showing my personal development through different experiences that I have gone through in the last two years,” she said. “Pretty much all of them are comparing the negative and positive aspects of that experience.”

These experiences have helped Soleil to express herself and her art has been used as an outlet to help her figure overcome and confront experiences.

“The biggest thing I focused on and realized when looking back at my pieces is a lot of them are a reflection of the past and moving on from things that have kept me stuck,” she said. “It’s not focused on one experience. It’s a collection of little things that add up over time and end up dragging me down.”

While Soleil uses her art to showcase her experiences, she hopes when people see her pieces and reflect on them that they will realize that if they went through experiences they had to overcome, they know there is someone else who felt similar to them.

“Relating and connecting to the art is what I’m trying to convey,” she said. “My key message, when I’m looking back at my pieces is, it’s okay to feel this way as long as you deal with it and confront yourself with those issues or experiences to find a better outcome.”

During her art-making process, Soleil said it all starts with an experience that she wants to portray, and it goes from there.

“I start with a basic idea of what I’m going to do, and I go from there with the colours, the outline and the background,” she added.

The primary focus for Soleil has been to work with watercolours, which she notes is her favourite media to use.

“Just the range of colours, and also the unpredictable outcome that you get from the colour,” she said. “As well as the different types of flowing patterns you get in the watercolour, which I think is really cool.”

With her watercolour pieces, the influence of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso can be seen. Specifically his cubist period and with different colour schemes. Many will notice Soliel’s art pieces are quite colourful, as she notes she likes to work with the colours of the rainbow. For her latest piece, however, lately, she has been going outside of the rainbow.

“I specifically focused on cool colours, which I thought was quite different from what I usually do,” she said. “I wanted to show a positive outlook with typically negative colours, or colours with negative connotations. Almost like a reverse effect of interpreting the piece and understanding it afterward.”

Art will continue to be an outlet for Soleil, but after GNS she says she plans to study special education.

The IB Art Exhibition will coincide with the Senior School musical production of Mary Poppins, so don’t forget to check out the art displays in the lobby of Denford Hall to see Soleil and her peers’ hard work.

“The Grade 12 class has a lot to show for what we have accomplished in the last two years,” she said. “Everyone’s art styles are so different that it’s honestly going to be such a range that it’s going to be pretty cool to see.”