Senior and Advanced Placement (AP) Art and AP Ceramics student Bella Beach creates complex narratives through clay and canvas, using different mediums to convey themes of pop culture and social commentary. Specializing in painting and sculptural ceramics, Beach has been working with a variety of techniques since she was little.
“My first memory of doing art was in preschool. I vividly remember making a little heart-shaped collage for Valentine’s Day and cutting out pieces of fabric and colorful paper to fit the card. I remember the feeling it gave me, of finally being able to do something I enjoyed,” Beach said. “I [would] sit down, make crafts and forget my worries of having to do anything else.”
Beach’s favorite types of art are Baroque, a style that originated in Rome and was popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; Neoclassicism, popularized in the following two centuries and focuses on classical orientations of balance and order; and realism, committed to depicting authenticity.
“My art is heavily inspired by how I view others in my everyday life and how I view myself. I tend to create art that reflects femininity, specifically through the lens of my adolescence, and self-discovery that I am currently facing. I lean toward showing what emotions look like to me, usually with vibrant colors and rounded shapes,” Beach said.
When gravitating toward the flow state, a state of mind artists reach when their focus is entirely captivated by their work, Beach likes that she can be detail-oriented while also preserving her natural creativity.
“My favorite thing about doing art is the focus and attention it takes and the joy it gives me,” Beach said. “I love paying attention to the little details because that alone frees me from stress and worry.”
