Arcadia High School student Peggy Luk won First Place in Congresswoman Judy Chu’s 6th Annual Artistic Discovery, a Congressional Art Competition, and AHS student Briana Shen won Honorable Mention.
The students were recognized for their achievements by Congresswoman Chu at the Huntington Library in San Marino on May 9, and were later congratulated by Mayor Gary Kovacic and the Arcadia City Council.
Following is information about the work of each young artist:
Peggy Luk, Arcadia High School City of Residence: Arcadia Project title: A Question of Self Worth Competition result: First Place
Prize/Recognition: $1000 scholarship and a paid trip for two to Washington D.C. to attend the National Artistic Discovery Unveiling Ceremony. The artwork will be displayed for an entire year in the halls of our nation’s Capitol building.
Background: Peggy has been practicing art since she was seven years-old and she dreams of one day becoming a medical illustrator. Like many great artists, she frequently uses art to express emotions that oftentimes can’t be properly conveyed through words or actions.
The inspiration for this piece came from seeing some of her friends in school who were facing various challenges in life and who would oftentimes want to pull away and be alone. She wanted to capture that feeling of self-doubt, uncertainty and reflection that many men and women, both young and old, go through at some point in their lives. For this piece she chose to use water color because of its more subtle and natural feel. Judges pointed out that when using water color there is little room for error so it takes a significant level of skill to accomplish a piece like this. Judges were also impressed with her choice of cold colors, such as blue and purple, which leaves a powerful impression on the audience that makes you truly feel the sense of loneliness and reflection that a person goes through during contemplation.
Briana Shen, Arcadia High School City of residence: Temple City Competition Result: Honorable Mention Project title: A Thousand Times Hopeful
Prize/Recognition: $125 scholarship and her artwork will hang in Congresswoman Chu’s office in Pasadena.
Background: This young artist believes that art can be used to teach a lesson about the decisions we make and the consequences they create. For that reason she drew a piece that is inspired by the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young Japanese girl who was two years old when the atomic bomb dropped on Japan in August 6, 1945.
Sadako was an innocent victim of war; she later died on October 25, 1955 due to the radiation of the atomic bomb. During Sadako’s hospitalization her friend told her that according to Japanese legend, the crane lives for a thousand years and a sick person who folds 1,000 paper cranes will get well again. With this story as inspiration, the artist used a mixture of pencil and color pencil to create a drawing that represented both innocence and the consequences of war. The photo in the middle depicts Sadako and her older friend during a very happy moment in their lives. The hand holding the picture is that same friend in the photo but now many years older. The artist wanted to display the details of the aged hand in order to create a feeling of time having passed by and a longing for a friendship cut short. Despite this sad image, the artist reminds us there is always hope by drawing a dark sky that brightens as the paper cranes come to life and encircle the memory of Sadako. This artist clearly has a deep understanding of our relationships with the world so it’s no surprise that she plans on focusing her studies on foreign relations when she attends Georgetown University next year.
— By Scott Hettrick with summaries and photos provided by Viola Van in Congresswoman Chu’s office.