West Anchorage High School

  • Temperate Glacier

      Title of Art Piece: Temperate Glacier Category: Photography Student/Artist’s Name: Kristine Laxa School: West Anchorage High School Grade: 9th Artist Statement: My artwork is a double exposure photograph. It shows Matanuska Glacier and a picture of my mom. I wanted to aim for a cold, calm mood while also representing endurance of long-lasting strength. I learned that this technique takes a lot of patience because of editing the photos and merging them together. Artwork Dimensions: 10 Inches High x 8 Inches Wide   Additional Images:    Adjudicate Artwork

  • Beneath the Stillness

      Title of Art Piece: Beneath the Stillness Category: Sculpture Student/Artist’s Name: Alannah King School: West Anchorage High School Grade: 12th Artist Statement: This piece was hand-built and was started using a solid piece of clay. After loosely forming the facial features, it was cut open and hollowed out, later refining the facial features one by one. It is meant to show intense emotion, specifically anger hidden within quietness, through a calm face surrounded by snakes. Inspired by Medusa, the snakes reflect inner conflict, acting as both a protective barrier and a source of fear, representing the chaos of suppressed anger. What is first looked at as intimidating, is now viewed as protective. The snakes represent inner conflict, being both protective and dangerous. The color…

  • Our Field

      Title of Art Piece: Our Field Category: Painting Student/Artist’s Name: Claire Jong School: West Anchorage High School Grade: 12th Artist Statement: Our Field is an acrylic painting which explores the theme of tobacco farmers losing the rights to their own work and being forced to hand over everything they cultivate. The red and blue features throughout the piece tie back to traditional and modern clothes commonly seen in Meinong, Taiwan. The main subject shows a hand holding tobacco and being forced to hand it over to the dictatorial KMT government while at the same time being restrained, showing the restrictions farmers felt. Artwork Dimensions: 20 inches tall X 15 inches wide   Additional Images:    Adjudicate Artwork

  • Sunrise Drive

      Title of Art Piece: Sunrise Drive Category: Painting Student/Artist’s Name: Scout (Frances) Gramse School: West Anchorage High School Grade: 12th Artist Statement: This plaster and acrylic tondo represents the fleeting feelings of childhood and the duality within the want to grow up. The strong leading lines draw the viewer into the piece, creating the sense that the viewpoint is guiding the child down the sidewalk. The small child represents the naive hope in maturity and the aspiration to find freedom in age. This contrasts the harsh reality of coming of age, and the eventual realization that being young is the only time one will feel true freedom. Artwork Dimensions: 16" height x 16 inches wide X 1/2 deep   Additional Images:    Adjudicate Artwork

  • Familiarity

      Title of Art Piece: Familiarity Category: Painting Student/Artist’s Name: Aether Moxey School: West Anchorage High School Grade: 11th Artist Statement: Familiarity was created out of the want to represent my childhood with a landmark that is still present today, the Inlet Tower. My childhood home, a little cabin with a huge backyard in the heart of Downtown Anchorage, was destroyed in 2018 and replaced with a four-plex. I grew up walking to and from school every day with the tower in my view, saw this building throughout the destruction and my parents' divorce, and now it stands tall out the window of my Dad's condo that has been passed down throughout generations. I accidentally captured the reference for this painting by taking a photo…

  • 500 Miles

      Title of Art Piece: 500 Miles Category: Communication Arts / Graphic Design Student/Artist’s Name: Athena Vallada School: West Anchorage High School Grade: 10th Artist Statement: Rather than celebrating the wonders of the Western World, the impact of European settlers has taken more than just the Natives of Alaska’s land. They took lives, children, and all sense of identity. For nearly a hundred years the Native Americans of our state have been working relentlessly to regain the culture they once lost. My main subject is a Native Alaskan woman, looking into the sunrise. Looking forward to the new day represents the bright futures of the current generation of Native Alaskans, fitting right between cultural identity and the voices of today. Long, flowing hair in Indigenous…

  • Generational Links

      Title of Art Piece: Generational Links Category: Multicultural Art Student/Artist’s Name: Miley Kakaruk School: West Anchorage High School Grade: 12th Artist Statement: Ivory story bracelets are believed to have originated in Shishmaref, Alaska in the 1920’s. This ceramic piece is an enlarged sculptural interpretation. Every other panel depicts a scene from life in the Arctic. The NYO event being represented is the One-Foot High Kick, which was used as a form of communication; a whaling crew sets out in search of a whale. The hunt was successful and the villages’ highest kicker is sent to a viewing spot to signal the village that the crew needs help pulling in the whale. Artwork Dimensions: 11" inches wide x 11 "inches deep x 3.5 inches tall…

  • Impetus

      Title of Art Piece: Impetus Category: Drawing Student/Artist’s Name: Zeighlah Gunther-Cowles School: West Anchorage High School Grade: 11th Artist Statement: I created this self portrait using black and white charcoal on a large piece of cardboard. I really enjoy using charcoal because of the way it can show dimension and detail, as well as emotion. With charcoal I feel like I can fully show detail and clearly emphasize how I feel with no limits of color. This piece is probably one of my favorites I've ever created; it has strong emotions through the "burning" of the cardboard but yet my face is very softspoken. I chose to call it "Impetus" because it means a driving force. The way im looking into the burns is…

  • Prince, Bull, Prisoner

      Title of Art Piece: Prince, Bull, Prisoner Category: Painting Student/Artist’s Name: Jayden Hollon School: West Anchorage High School Grade: 12th Artist Statement: This piece is meant to explore three aspects of the Minotaur, Prince Asterion, The Bull of Crete, and the Imprisoned Minotaur. Each figure of the Minotaur represents both an identity and a possible outcome of his future. Life in royal luxury, death at the hands of a hero, or slowly drowning in sorrow as he is trapped in the labyrinth. The piece is made with oil paints over acrylic, and contains a pallete of ocher and blue. Artwork Dimensions: 26 inches high x 14 inches wide   Additional Images:    Adjudicate Artwork

  • Tell the Wasp

      Title of Art Piece: Tell the Wasp Category: Jewelry / Metalsmithing Student/Artist’s Name: Riley Baski School: West Anchorage High School Grade: 10th Artist Statement: I made this piece based on the Scottish practice of beekeepers telling the bees hive by hive about major events like death. This was done because bees were seen as messengers to the deceased. I exemplified this by merging the depiction of The Reaper first found in art after the Bubonic plague with this Celtic association with bees and the great beyond. I transferred my design to the copper using embossing and repoussé. I gave it a patina by heating the metal with a hot plate. To highlight the scythe I created a pale blue and the blue is a…

  • Alaska in the Springtime

      Title of Art Piece: Alaska in the Springtime Category: Mixed Media Student/Artist’s Name: Viviana Reyes-Arce School: West Anchorage High School Grade: 10th Artist Statement: I made a landscape that shows a mountain in Alaska in the spring time. I created the piece by felting wool roving onto a piece of felt. I was reminiscing about summer and chose an image that had a good background, middleground, and foreground. Artwork Dimensions: 10 Inches High x 8 Inches Wide   Additional Images:    Adjudicate Artwork

  • Untitled

      Title of Art Piece: Untitled Category: Photography Student/Artist’s Name: Bianca Gonzales School: West Anchorage High School Grade: 12th Artist Statement: My photos have the common theme of friendship and playfulness. By taking many candid photos of my friends, the big idea is the playful friendship dynamics that a camera and candids can capture. My goal was to present a colorful, funky, and playful portfolio of friends. With these types of photos, I find a lot of enjoyment in creating joyful photos of people and seeing that real representation of relationships. Artwork Dimensions: 5 Inches High x 10 Inches Wide   Additional Images:    Adjudicate Artwork