ARTIST SPOTLIGHTS
Starting in 2021, Vibe has started a partnership with Voices, where Voices members conduct interviews of student artists in Masterman!
Interviews can be found here, but also appear on our Instagram and the Voices website as well.
If you are an artist who would like to be interviewed, please reach out to vibemhs@gmail.com and we will get back to you!
NOVEMBER 2021
ZUZA JEVREMOVIC 12-2
INTERVIEWED BY ISABEL PORTNER
What mediums of art do you use to create your artwork? What are your favorite mediums?
Most commonly, I do illustration, with pencils or colored pencils. Recently I've been on a bit of a crocheting kick, and I occasionally engage in other fiber arts, like embroidery and latch-hooking. I've dabbled in felting in the past and it could make a resurgence at some point. While crocheting is currently dominating my life, I think illustration will always be my favorite type of art, as the one I've been doing the longest.
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When was the first time you found your passion in art?
I can't remember it - it seems I’ve always been drawing, probably beginning since I was 2 or 3, though whatever I created back then wouldn’t have had any comprehensible form. I read a lot of picture books when I was little and I always enjoyed coming up with my own animal characters for stories so naturally I had to draw them. Thus, I've enjoyed drawing for as long as I can remember, and through the years it's maintained its usefulness as gift material, decoration for school projects, means of representing characters from other media, and its original purpose of representing my own characters.
Since you’ve published the book Morpholia, could you tell us anything about the process of writing and illustrating it? Do you have any plans on a similar project?
The idea for Morpholia first came to me at the end of fifth grade, and the story was written up in its entirety the following year. However, a year later, the plot seemed quite ridiculous and the entire book was rewritten. (Of course, by now I have the same opinion on the rewritten version, but it was still fun to get it printed and I'm proud of the achievement). The major characters were kept in and some new characters added in order to take advantage of the diversity of the kingdom.
What do you love so much about Taxonomy? How does this relate to your book Morpholia?
My love of taxonomy/classification at the time had a strong influence on the book, and was sort of tied in with memory (in an evolutionary memory/we are our ancestors/life is all related in some sort of way). I wrote a lot of flashbacks, and these were probably some of the first scenes I wrote, as I generally write stories out of order. The diversity of the animal kingdom also inspired me to draw as many characters as I could; that year I was quite interested in practicing animal anatomy, and I spent time researching reference photos for and practicing drawing most of the animals featured in the book. Since there was a drawing per chapter, I decided not to color them all, but only the most important characters.
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Do you have any plans to publish a book in the future?
I don't currently have any plans to get more books published, but I definitely will do it again when I have some material, and there will certainly be accompanying illustrations. The protagonist of Morpholia, Brokk the badger has become dissociated from his book of originality and still occasionally features in my drawings and writing. Maybe he and his sister will return to the printed page one day.
Your art features a lot of animals. Do you have a favorite animal/animals?
There are so many animals I like, but in light of my previous response I might go with Eurasian badger. They've featured in a lot of stories of mine and I like how families are an important part of their lives.
As an artist, what is your favorite school subject?
English. I enjoy reading and writing and I usually really like my English teachers.
What’s the fondest memory you’ve had at Masterman?
I've had a lot of fun times with classmates and teachers and amusing projects, but I feel like most of it slipped my mind. Since it’s a more recent memory, I might say having lunch with Ms. Waber in tenth grade; I always like being around her.
If you could be a holiday-themed cookie, what would you be?
I'd probably just go with one of those sugar cookies made with an animal shaped cookie cutter; I have a lot of fun decorating those.
ELLIE ZDANCEWIC 11-2
INTERVIEWED BY HELENA SAVEN
What mediums of art do you use to create your artwork? What are your favorite mediums?
My favorite medium is embroidery, which is a kind of fiber art. I do other fiber arts, including cross stitch and crochet. Outside of that I do a bit of watercolor, drawing, and graphic design. But mostly embroidery.
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When was the first time you found your passion in art?
I got into embroidery three years ago, it was December 2018 and I was in 8th grade. I was trying to come up with a homemade birthday present for my grandma because I didn’t have any money, and I knew they would always appreciate whatever I drew them. I saw an Instagram post of someone embroidering and I thought it didn’t look too hard. I found an old cross-stitch kit that was gifted to me but I never used, because I didn’t like the dolphin pattern it had. I flipped over the paper and made my own pattern, which said “I <3 Gma” because I couldn’t spell out “grandma” since the hoop was too small. It wasn’t that hard to actually stitch out something that I liked and had envisioned in my mind. With that, I was hooked and I kept stitching and embroidering anything I liked.
Who/What are your artistic inspirations?
My favorite artist is Alphonse Mucha, an art nouveau artist from the Czech Republic who makes these really gorgeous paintings, scenes of women and flowers. I get a lot of inspiration for embroidery from social media. I really like the work of Henri Pernell, a German embroidery and crochet artist. Charles Henry does these super gorgeous architectural embroideries and his starry night pattern inspired the piece on my backpack. Shannon Downy is a craftivist (artist/activist) who I followed for a while. I get a lot of inspiration from her. We became friends when I joined her virtual embroidery club two years ago, at the beginning of the pandemic. It was super awesome to meet a lot of new people, most of whom are way older than me, and talk about stitching with them. Through this connection to Shannon, my art was exhibited at the National Liberty Museum in Philly. The exhibition's name is craftivism (activism through crafts) and at the opening night I was able to give a talk about my art and how I began embroidering. The art that’s in the exhibition is called “A Herstory Project” which is a communal art project started by Shannon that encourages women and gender minorities to create a foot-by-foot piece of fabric to tell their story.
As an artist, what is your favorite school subject, and why?
It depends more on the teacher for what my favorite class or subject is, but I’m a big fan of French, math, and English. Those are my top.
What do you enjoy most about embroidering?
I like how it gives me a creative outlet that I don’t find in other mediums, mostly because you can create this gorgeous texture and play with colors and you’re limited to only the colors you have in thread. You can semi-trace existing art because you print out a pattern, trace it, then stitch it. It’s allowing yourself to be inspired by other pieces of art that already exist. Embroidery is really therapeutic because you have literally a sharp little object that you stab into things a bunch of times and you have to concentrate on it. You can’t jump ahead to the end of the line or else it will look bad. You have to do tiny, very precise stitches and little by little it will make this very pretty picture. It’s almost meditative. I also like how I can do it and multitask, I can watch a show or attend a Zoom call and stitch. It’s something to do with my hands, something to decorate my walls, it’s very versatile and lots of fun. I recommend it to everybody.
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What helps you focus when you embroider?
90% of the time when I’m embroidering I’m doing something else, like watching a show with my family, talking to my friends on a Zoom call, or listening to a podcast. Very rarely do I ever just sit in silence because once I already have the pattern drawn out, I don’t need to think too much about what I’m doing next. I like to think about multitasking where I have something to do with my mind, my hands and my ears. If I’m watching a show, I’m using my mind and ears. Because the pattern is already drawn out, I just follow the line and stitch around it. It would honestly be a little boring if I didn't have anything else to distract me.
Do you have any music recommendations?
My favorite band is Lovejoy, they’re a British indie-rock band with some really good horns in the background. I’ve been listening to a lot of that; it’s going to be the entirety of my Spotify Wrapped. I also like Janelle Monae and Taylor Swift. I like the Studio Ghibli soundtrack when I’m working, Wallows, and Coin. A lot of indie bands.
What’s your favorite classroom in Masterman?
104, Madame Heimann’s room, because I get to sit in French class and hear Dr. Shapiro and his class singing and people practicing down in the band room. I get a little snippet of music and that’s fun. It’s also convenient to leave the building because I have French at the end of the day almost every day.
Have you ever been trampled by a 5th grader?
No, honestly. I see them sprinting to the lunchroom and I usually get out of the way.
What is your opinion on beans?
I’m a fan of beans. I like refried beans and black beans and baked beans and lima beans. I don’t have lima beans all that often but I’m pro-beans.
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JASON ZHENG 9-4
INTERVIEWED BY ISABEL PORTNER
What mediums of art do you use to create your artwork? What are your favorite mediums?
I like fabric-y things like paper and plastic to make looks really voluminous (and because they’re cheap). I also use anything and everything I have at home. I think using materials that mean something to you makes a piece that means more to other people.
What’s your favorite aspect of drag?
Honestly, the community...I think putting labels like “drag” on art is kind of pointless since it all overlaps so much and is really just about expression and creativity. That being said, being classified as a drag queen is so nice because there are supportive (and really gay) online communities that are centered around drag/queer culture that I dont think I’d be a part of otherwise. Drag isn't just an art form, it has dense layers of community, performance, history, and freedom, that's why I love it. (The stares too!)
When was the first time you found your passion in drag?
It was definitely all because of my friend in 7th grade. He really taught me everything about drag when I had no clue it existed. I just thought it was so unique and kind of combined everything I really like into one.
Who/What are your artistic inspirations?
I wouldn't say I really use a ton of outside inspiration. I like designers such as Iris Van Herpen, Mugler, and other queens of course, but really everything comes from my own head. It’s concepts like depression and alienation I want to express. If I had to choose one it would definitely be Salvia (I have no clue how to describe her: just look her up). Her aesthetic is utterly insane.
As an artist, what is your favorite school subject, and why?
Definitely literacy. I'm a hardcore poet and I ironicaly kind of vibe with Ms. Rowley. I think poetry and drag definitely go hand in hand. It's just all creating and invoking emotion; I feel like nobody really understands exactly what it all means except me.
As a person who designs clothes and fits, what color do you think should be eliminated from the face of this planet?
White.
Any reasons why?
No.
What’s a highlight of your day at Masterman?
When I'm alone at lunch I sometimes go onto the patio and it's all empty and cool and it's just like leaves and objects blowing around.