Senior Yunseo Kwon and junior Michelle Lu were the semifinalists in the 2024 Orange County Artist of the Year, a contest that honors seven students in the county as Artist of the Year through three rounds of competition. Kwon’s and Lu’s entries consisted of creative dance and visual art pieces that focused on diverse themes.
Kwon, who was nominated by Visual Arts teacher Kearci Thompson, submitted a portfolio of her works that comprised a mix of school assignments and personal projects. Her enrollment in different visual arts classes like Advanced Computer Graphics, AP Ceramics and AP Art allowed her to experiment with different mediums for her portfolio, according to Kwon.
“The process of making art is never easy,” Kown said. “It all comes down to an individual’s drive and thought process. My strengths are realism, but I’m continuously drawn to experimenting with various styles and incorporating design elements, which challenged me to push outside of my boundaries. I kept looking for new mediums to use, and I found watercolor and painting last year to become better at.”
Kwon’s mindset was key to using sparks of inspiration to create whatever she wanted without the typical reference images. Although this process did not always turn out as she expected, she never regretted her experiments, according to Kwon.
Lu, who was nominated by Dance teacher Samantha Gardner, compiled several variations of ballet choreography and one contemporary piece for the competition. She also submitted three essays about her choreography process, according to Lu.
“I think this competition also really focuses on not just your talent but also what you do outside of dance,” Lu said. “So I think that definitely has a big part in the people you affect outside of dance and your passions outside of dance and how you connect dance to those aspects of your life.”
Lu’s choice to include two different dance styles — ballet and contemporary — distinguished her from others who tended to focus on only contemporary or commercial dancing. Some skills from one type of dance carried over to another, such as when practicing for her contemporary piece helped her ballet extensions, according to Lu.
“I think both of our semifinalists showed a lot of perseverance with their work,” Thompson said. “They might have started at painting and drawing level or intro level and really put in the work to get to AP or to advanced. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re working outside of school at another studio, but they are working on their practice trying to improve even when they’re not in the classroom.”
