Congratulations to the six Bellevue School District students who were selected to be in the Bellevue Arts Museum 20 Under 20 exhibit. The exhibit is designed to feature youth ages 13 – 19 as emerging artists and is juried by the Teen Arts Council in collaboration with Bellevue Arts Museum curators.
Sarah Benjamin is a freshman in Interlake’s PACIFIC program and uses art as an effective means of expressing herself and her experience with autism. She loves creating art using a variety of mediums, bold colors and interesting textures. Benjamin’s piece, Sarah’s Thoughts, features yarn and beads woven together and interacting with each other in unexpected ways depending on how the piece is displayed.
Julia Park is a student at Newport High School and created an oil painting, Insecure, that is on display in the exhibit. Park’s reflects on her exposure to both an Asian and American style of art. Her painting represents the worries a common high school student would have.
Naomi Chen-Mallouk is a senior at Bellevue High School. Her photograph, Looking Away, represents her habit of looking away. She reflects on both positive and negative moments that cause her to look away.
Isha Sangani is a junior at Newport High School and expresses her identity as an Indian American in her art. Sangani’s piece, Carry These Gifts, is a painting representing the two aspects of her identity both through the symbolism of sneakers and mehndi.
Emily Feng is a sophomore at Interlake High School. She views art as a cathartic vehicle for political, social and emotional expression and her work centers on concepts such as her personal identity, activism and raw emotion. Feng’s piece, Alphabet Soup, is a painting about her search for identity as an Asian American.
Allison Zhang is a junior at Bellevue High School. Zhang loves how ambiguous art is and feels her style is constantly evolving through the exposure to various cultures and art masters. Her piece, Torn, reflects on the troubles she faced adapting to American culture as a second generation Chinese American. Zhang used both English newspaper and Chinese newspaper as mediums to represent both influences.