Artist of the Issue: Celine Kim

“Myself,” stated senior Celine Kim when asked who inspires her art. She has been doodling, painting, and expressing her artistic side since the age of five years old. Her mother, a fine arts major, encouraged Celine to pursue this interest. Together, they would go the art studio and draw or paint for hours on end. Celine’s mother even had Celine pose for her when she was little.

Her artistic curiosities fully emerged when she left home in seventh grade to go to boarding school in the US. At the Fay School, she took art classes every term and continued to improve her skills. Her real love for art developed at Fay. “I started to really, really enjoy drawing and painting, as it wasn’t forced on me at all. I could explore freely and create different forms of whatever art I wanted to” she said.

At Deerfield, Kim currently takes one of Mr. Dickinson’s advanced classes, Topics: Post AP Studio Art.

“Mr. Dickinson changed my art career completely. He pushes me to reach my full potential,” Kim explained. “The studio is always full of laughter with Mr. D’s lame jokes, and I’ve learned to truly enjoy art in his class,” Kim continued. Under Mr. Dickinson’s guidance, not only has her passion for all forms of art increased, but she has also completed a large collection of works for her portfolio. During her junior year, she drew and painted a multitude of self-portraits, a line drawing, and her personal favorite, countless pastels.

Many of her pieces fall under the category of surrealism. “I mainly do surrealist art, especially at a place like Deerfield because the reality that exists here can be incredibly stressful,” stated Kim.

Art currently serves as Kim’s main stress-reliever.

“I’ve been struggling with extreme seasonal affective disorder and found that art relieves my anxiety and stress,” she joked. “You can imagine me, super angsty in front of an easel aggressively scribbling.” At the moment, Kim has an art exemption, giving her more time in the afternoons to clear her mind and enjoy herself behind an easel.

Though constantly in the studio at Deerfield, Kim pursues art outside of school as well. When she’s in South Korea over the summer, Kim regularly attends art classes and produces her own work, much of which has earned praise. For example, she won the Gold Key Award for the YoungArts in the summer of 2015. This award was for a sculpture she based off an “exciting essay” she wrote for her sophomore year English class here at DA, taught by Ms. Fan. The sculpture was composed of wood, and resembled a human with two heads, both of which were iPad screens. Kim created this unique sculpture to symbolize a person with two identities or souls trapped within one human body.

In the future, Kim wishes to keep a balance between arts and sciences in her life. She wishes to continue studying art while in college, but it will not be her major. However, after high school, she wishes to still keep in touch with her artistic side.

“I definitely will collect cool pieces of artwork and possibly be involved in the art business along with my career,” she commented. “Plot twist, I want to study medicine because my dad is a doctor, and I believe that art will be an escape from that stress.” No matter what, Kim says that art will “definitely, definitely, 100%” be a part of her future.