Fortitude, Reflection
by teen artists Thorin Kelly – @thorinator_3000
& Bryophidyte Sutherland – @witching_bone
December, 2022 – January, 2023

Thorin Kelly (he/him) is a young south-end artist focused on love, life, and art through community-based murals. He employs mediums ranging from pen and paper to kick and snare, using graphite and ink to create rough expressionism and surreal imagery that reflects his identity. He has been actively muraling in Seattle since the age of 14 and has worked with organizations like The Art of Resistance and Resilience and Urban Artworks to create murals in Rainier Beach, the International District, and the Central District. His work has also been displayed in Columbia City Gallery. Kelly frequently uses the sun as a symbol of hope and love in the pursuit of happiness. “Keep your head up, the sun shines bright” is an ever-present phrase in his life. Many of his works portray formless figures and drifting dreamscapes that reflect the fogginess of one’s consciousness and the uncertainty of growing up, focusing on the contradictions and paradoxes we fall into as humans. Kelly is pursuing a professional career in the arts, while remaining authentic to himself.

Bryophidyte Sutherland (they/them) is a multimedia, nature-themed artist raised in Olympia and Seattle. They started making art as a way to express themselves and the way they see the world. Since fall of 2021, they have been working with Urban Artworks on multiple murals, and have show work in Columbia City Gallery. Their childhood of hiking, rock climbing, and playing in the woods remains a big inspiration to their artwork. Because of these experiences, their artwork emphasizes the connection between themselves and the natural world, and the way they view the world because of it.

Artist Statement:
Fortitude, Reflection represents a balanced reflection of two species. Barnacles stay together no matter what circumstances they face, salvaging what they have to survive as a community. They form strong bonds to help them gather the nutrients they need in spite of harsh, changing waters. Mycelia propagate in a complex and delicate network that nurtures the earth and other lifeforms, creating community with the world around it. They signify strength in numbers and the importance of connection to surrounding individuals and to the natural world.

A Moment Adrift
by teen artist Sydney Lai – @sydneylai_art
December, 2022 – January, 2023

Sydney Lai (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist working with ink, textile, string, words, and paper. She currently studies psychology at the University of Washington and often channels her interest in cognition into her art. In her practice, she establishes intimate connections to her art through gentle disassembly and repair. She handles wood, data, beads, knots, pens, and paint. Through her creative integration of disciplines, she endeavors to create holistic works that inspires softness, thoughtfulness, and peace. Lately, she has been interested in ritual, material desire, space, form, mathematics, geomancy, and tea.

Artist Statement:
A Moment Adrift depicts the organic movement of Japanese algae and the topographic texture of salvaged wood strung together by a flowing yellow thread. It explores the relationships between time, nature, and the self through symbols of the inescapable past, immediate present, and imminent future. This mural serves as a compliment to Alison Stigora’s installation, SALVAGE, by inviting the viewer to step into the space and find solace in nature’s art. Through condensed, detailed brushwork, A Moment Adrift gives viewers a quiet moment to breathe and appreciate nature’s greatest gift: the body.

Deviation
by teen artist Ai-Li Hollander – @ailihollander.art
mentored by Stevie Shao – @stepfrae
June – August, 2021

Ai-Li Hollander is a Seattle-based emerging artist who explores her emotions and perspective through abstract concentric circle motifs. Influenced by her subconscious, each of her pieces operates as a snapshot in time. Hollander’s work juxtaposes color, gradients, patterns, alongside dichotomies such as movement/stagnation and opacity/transparency, in order to express her internal emotional states. While she works primarily in gouache, she also experiments with clay, wire, and paper sculpture, ceramics, cut paper collage, and illustration. Hollander has shown in youth emerging artist exhibitions at the Seattle Art Museum and Bellevue Arts Museum, and plans to continue her artistic studies in college.

Artist Statement:
This work is a continuation of my concentric circle series, which records my internal emotional state through gouache patterned circle layers within a standard outer circle. In this mural, I specifically explore the emotional journey that I experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. As society begins to “return to normal,” I reflect on and bear witness to this time. The abstract work features different colors, gradients, patterns, and energies that appose one another. These layered juxtapositions create harmony or discordance, reflecting the contradictions and layers of my emotions. When linked together, the circles are an exercise in introspection that translates my personal experiences into a visual language. The three concentric circles chronologically record this time, with the topmost circle representing the beginning of the pandemic, the middle recording my day-to-day experience, and the bottom representing the beginning of reopening. Each circle is a lens allowing the viewer to see through my eyes as I reflect on the last year and a half and look towards the future.

Nuestra Vision
by teen artist Yazzy – @yazzy_artwork
mentored by Dovey Martinez – @doveyswork
June – August, 2021

Yazzy: painter, muralist, digital artist, and active community member. At the age of 14 this Seattle native jumped into the art world. Through the Covid-19 pandemic, Yazzy still found impactful ways to share her art and stay involved. She did this by creating art in Capitol Hill’s Autonomous Zone, showing her work in Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery, and participating in multiple virtual exhibitions and artist programs. Through her artwork she shares the beauty of moments in daily life, whether it be her own or others. As a highschool student and bi-racial woman, Yazzy brings a fresh new perspective to the table.

Artist Statement:
Our piece portrays the Latina woman having fulfilled her vision. As a successful and active woman in the community, she has the support and acceptance of her community behind her. We (Yazzy and Dovey) are both Latina women, similar to the woman in the subject of our painting. Inspired by the vision board concept and collage style, by painting a successful female we are visualizing ourselves to be in a similar position of success. Vision boards are used to keep people on track as they look toward their goals for the future. Using sharp outlines we divided each subject as if they were cut and pasted onto a posterboard. We drew inspiration for our color schemes from our travels through the colorful cities of Central America. Using the color pink, we represented roses which are deeply rooted in the Latina culture. As we walk away from this piece we recognize that we are strong and powerful just like the woman in our painting.