Artist's Statement, November 2019 (Messy Suppression)
In this project, we were assigned to create a piece that addresses a social justice issue concerning us right now. I thought almost immediately of the issues occurring in China. Currently, alongside tragic occurrences of religious discrimination and unrelenting spying on citizens, China is experiencing mass amounts of censorship in the media citizens are allowed to consume. As an artist, this immediately strikes me as being particularly wrong, as art is built on being able to express oneself freely. Some of the media platforms experiencing censorship include television, streaming services, social media platforms, video games, and even the results appearing on search engines such as Google.
I chose to represent the censorship happening in China with a row of tattered posters being vandalized by Winnie the Pooh, who represents China's president, Xi Jinping. Jinping despises being compared to the bear for his figure and has banned him entirely from the country. Much like vandalism of art, China is hiding and altering the media that reaches their people, therefore destroying the creators' original intentions, which, in some cases, has nothing to do with China. Nonetheless, this media is being "vandalized" and misrepresented in China, evident in the symbolism of the wrecked posters.
There were a few specific events I referenced in my piece regarding the censorship (detailed left to right). In October, a Chinese League of Legends player was not given his due prize because he spoke out against China's government after winning a competition. The first poster shows the logo of a Chinese gaming league to represent this situation and many other situations regarding censorship in Chinese e-sport competitive leagues. South Park, a show which frequently pokes fun at political events, was banned in China for its criticisms of their government. The third poster shows the flag of Hong Kong, where many movements are taking place in protest of China's government. The phrase, "Liberate Hong Kong," has become the slogan of many of the movements taking place. Felix Kjellberg is a Youtuber with over 100 million subscribers, who frequently reviews memes in an ongoing series. In October, he reviewed a few memes about Xi Jinping resembling Winnie the Pooh and touched on the events taking place in China, joking that he would likely be censored too. His channel was, of course, then banned in China within hours. Google also experiences censorship in China, with many results regarding the government's wrong-doings being completely unseeable to Chinese citizens. Their unofficial slogan, "Do the right thing," is seen being painted over by Jinping's stand-in.
This piece was done in watercolour and coloured pencil. I created the posters on individual pieces of paper and glued them on to a brick wall texture that I painted using watercolour paint on a sponge. "Jinping the Pooh" was done in coloured pencil on a separate piece of paper then cut out and glued on. Finally, black watercolour paint was added to the paintbrush and used to censor and vandalize the posters messily, with light paint splatters added throughout at the end. Later I also decided to fold the edges and slightly tear some of the posters for further effect.
I chose to represent the censorship happening in China with a row of tattered posters being vandalized by Winnie the Pooh, who represents China's president, Xi Jinping. Jinping despises being compared to the bear for his figure and has banned him entirely from the country. Much like vandalism of art, China is hiding and altering the media that reaches their people, therefore destroying the creators' original intentions, which, in some cases, has nothing to do with China. Nonetheless, this media is being "vandalized" and misrepresented in China, evident in the symbolism of the wrecked posters.
There were a few specific events I referenced in my piece regarding the censorship (detailed left to right). In October, a Chinese League of Legends player was not given his due prize because he spoke out against China's government after winning a competition. The first poster shows the logo of a Chinese gaming league to represent this situation and many other situations regarding censorship in Chinese e-sport competitive leagues. South Park, a show which frequently pokes fun at political events, was banned in China for its criticisms of their government. The third poster shows the flag of Hong Kong, where many movements are taking place in protest of China's government. The phrase, "Liberate Hong Kong," has become the slogan of many of the movements taking place. Felix Kjellberg is a Youtuber with over 100 million subscribers, who frequently reviews memes in an ongoing series. In October, he reviewed a few memes about Xi Jinping resembling Winnie the Pooh and touched on the events taking place in China, joking that he would likely be censored too. His channel was, of course, then banned in China within hours. Google also experiences censorship in China, with many results regarding the government's wrong-doings being completely unseeable to Chinese citizens. Their unofficial slogan, "Do the right thing," is seen being painted over by Jinping's stand-in.
This piece was done in watercolour and coloured pencil. I created the posters on individual pieces of paper and glued them on to a brick wall texture that I painted using watercolour paint on a sponge. "Jinping the Pooh" was done in coloured pencil on a separate piece of paper then cut out and glued on. Finally, black watercolour paint was added to the paintbrush and used to censor and vandalize the posters messily, with light paint splatters added throughout at the end. Later I also decided to fold the edges and slightly tear some of the posters for further effect.
My Artist's Statement, May 2019 (Fashion of the Fifties)
Leah Hooper is seventeen-year-old Canadian artist, enrolled in the W.H. Croxford VAM Academy. This year she was challenged, along with her VAM peers, to complete an independent project—a series with an overarching theme—of her choice. She chose to create the project Fashion of the Fifties. This project was done over the course of six weeks and entailed creating eight small drawings of various models in fifties-style outfits, as well as one large, multi-media piece in a similar fashion. Each model is fitted with a stylish outfit, based on the popular styles of the early fifties to the early sixties.
The smaller pieces, drawn on eleven by eight-and-a-half inch paper, were coloured with Copic alcohol markers. The larger piece, about four by two feet in size, was painted in acrylic on a wood base. Once painted, texture and three-dimensional elements were added on top with various materials including popsicle sticks, foam and pom-poms. Each piece was drawn in the same semi-realistic style with minimal shading in the colours, as well as obvious shapes, emphasized by line art.
Leah has always enjoyed retro fashion and has adopted a somewhat vintage style throughout her time in high school. Because of this, she was inspired to show the fashion of the time on various women in order to display the uniqueness of the era’s fashion. She enjoys the bold yet delicate and feminine style that was consistent throughout the decade. Some of the outfits drawn were real outfits she saw pictures of from the time, and some were of her own design, based on trends that took place during the era. All of the outfits, however, encapsulate the decade they were born out of.
Leah hopes that her series will display to the viewers her enjoyment of fifties fashion and her admiration for the women of that time who expressed themselves with fashion, much like she does herself. She will continue not only expressing herself through her artwork in more series like Fashion of the Fifties but also through the personal style she displays as an artist each day.
The smaller pieces, drawn on eleven by eight-and-a-half inch paper, were coloured with Copic alcohol markers. The larger piece, about four by two feet in size, was painted in acrylic on a wood base. Once painted, texture and three-dimensional elements were added on top with various materials including popsicle sticks, foam and pom-poms. Each piece was drawn in the same semi-realistic style with minimal shading in the colours, as well as obvious shapes, emphasized by line art.
Leah has always enjoyed retro fashion and has adopted a somewhat vintage style throughout her time in high school. Because of this, she was inspired to show the fashion of the time on various women in order to display the uniqueness of the era’s fashion. She enjoys the bold yet delicate and feminine style that was consistent throughout the decade. Some of the outfits drawn were real outfits she saw pictures of from the time, and some were of her own design, based on trends that took place during the era. All of the outfits, however, encapsulate the decade they were born out of.
Leah hopes that her series will display to the viewers her enjoyment of fifties fashion and her admiration for the women of that time who expressed themselves with fashion, much like she does herself. She will continue not only expressing herself through her artwork in more series like Fashion of the Fifties but also through the personal style she displays as an artist each day.
My Artist's Statement, May 2018 (An Artist's Closet)
Leah Hooper is a sixteen-year-old Canadian artist attending the Visual Arts and Media Academy at W.H. Croxford High School. She enjoys painting, graphic design, drawing, and putting together new and thrifted outfits. Leah’s independent project is a series of drawings of outfits she has worn over the course of the school year. She has completed the drawings with Copic alcohol markers, using vibrant, muted, and earthy colours to accurately capture every garment in her closet. There are twenty drawings in her series, titled, “An Artist’s Closet,” which are binded into a lookbook. She believes this series is the ultimate creative expression of herself—through drawing and fashion. Each outfit she puts together is just as much of a creative expression as each painting and drawing she does, so this series puts together two major parts of her artistic abilities. She hopes that those who view her project will see her outfits as art pieces just as much as they see a painting or a photo as an art piece. She wants viewers to know that art isn’t only found on paper or canvas, but can be found even in an artist’s closet.
My Artist's Statement, December 2017 (Celebration of Learning)
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” —Pablo Picasso
The pieces I’m displaying are works I have done throughout the year in the Visual Arts and Media Academy. In this academy, I’ve gotten the opportunity to try many new things, such as graphic design in Photoshop, oil pastel and chalk, pencil crayon, pottery, and other mixed media mediums. I’ve learned about the elements of design and their importance in all art, something that I will value having learned as long as I’m still making art. My favourite piece that I’ve made so far this year is my “who am I” mixed media piece. It includes symbols that represent how I identify myself, what I like, and what I believe about the world and myself. This piece shows my personality well, as well as how I stylize my work. My work, no matter the differences between the pieces, always has similarities. I enjoy painting people and using bright colours. I like to stray away from hyperrealism and give my art an original touch in any way possible. Even in photography, I enjoy taking photos of people—candids, usually. I always hope that the photos I take of people show a little bit of themselves through it, just as I hope my paintings and drawings show a bit of myself through them. I want to continue doing art, and eventually go into a career where I can make art, specifically graphic design. I know this academy will continue to encourage me and help me learn about myself as an artist so that I can grow better at art and—hopefully—never stop creating.