Jingqi Yang (Age 17) based in MA

A few weeks before my AP Art portfolio was due, I was sitting on the floor at around one in the morning still trying to finish one of my pieces. There were paper scraps everywhere, dried paint on my hands, and at least twenty photos of the same artwork on my phone because I kept checking how it looked through the camera. Instead of thinking about whether I actually liked the piece, I was thinking about whether the material looked “strong enough,” whether it fit my investigation theme clearly...

When people first see the needles on my painting, their reaction is usually shock before curiosity. I decided to combine acrylic painting with 3D materials like needles and yarn to push my artwork beyond the flat surface of traditional painting. Mixed media has become an increasingly popular approach in contemporary art because it adds more texture, lighting, and dimension to the original artwork. The way I see mixed media is a way for artists to use their materials to translate feelings into...