The District Honors Art Show taking place on May 16-17 at Portola High School will spotlight outstanding artwork from every school in IUSD. Among them, Northwood will display 14 exceptional pieces representing the school’s top artistic talent. Award-winning pieces will go on display later at the Laguna Art Museum.
These selections were made by art teacher Kim Rohrs and fellow faculty members during Northwood’s Night of the Arts event in March. These are the stories behind some of those pieces:
Mia Chun (10): “Assortments of Life”
For her Fall semester final project focused on ‘still life,’ Chun chose to experiment with a challenging new medium: gouache, an opaque water-based paint. Inspired by other gouache works, she captured the vibrant chaos of her family’s refrigerator—a colorful mix of salsa, pasta, Asian sauces and more. At the heart of the piece lies the focal point: her cherished milk cup.
“It’s my milk cup that I’ve been using since I was like three,” Chun said. So it’s what I always look for whenever I’m looking through my fridge.”
Rei Iwai (11): “Golden Distraction”
For her first art project of the school year, Iwai crafted an oil-on-canvas piece centered around her inquiry question: how does the goldfish symbolize overconsumption? Drawing inspiration from Henri Matisse’s The Goldfish (1912), she juxtaposed an oversized goldfish with tiny, figurine-like human figures to highlight the irony of being mesmerized by appearances while overlooking deeper meanings.
“What I really wanted to focus on was saturated colors so that the viewer actually looking at my painting will be consumed and admire the goldfish,” Iwai said. “But then, when you look down, you can see the size of the people compared to the goldfish, and then kind of get an understanding of, ‘Oh, they’re looking at it too.’”
Angie Lu (11): “Poverltry”
Lu crafted her painting with a mix of acrylic and gouache, intending to symbolize the themes of class division and poverty. In the drawing, a golden bird, specifically tinted with gold paint, soars high above the grime of the city, symbolizing the wealthy elite, while black chickens below gaze towards it, longing for the same freedom and opportunity.
During the painting process, Lu discovered that gouache and acrylic didn’t mix well, causing some paint to peel off the chickens. Instead of viewing it as a mistake, she embraced it, using the effect to symbolize the chicken’s feathers falling apart, deepening its representation of poverty and inequality.
“You don’t really see class in Irvine, but if you ever go to LA, there’s homeless people and the people who are really rich,” Lu said. “And basically it’s about how the people of the lower class don’t get the opportunity to do as good as the upper class. Their children get different opportunities and different benefits…and my artwork represents the gap.”
Check out the District Honors Art Show, happening May 16 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and May 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Awards will be announced at 5 p.m. on May 16.
