AP Artist Spotlight: Penelope North

Art has always been a form of expression for me quite unlike any other. Though I only decided to explore my passion for art beginning my sophomore year, I have considered myself an artist for my entire life. The influential mentorship of Ms. Chambliss brought me to pursue AP-level art with AP 2D Art and Design my junior year and AP Drawing my senior year. ESD’s art community has also driven me to sharpen my talent and keep creating over the years.

ESD

Art, to me, must have meaning. That is why my two AP Art portfolios revolve around two of the most meaningful things in my life: my grandmother and Nantucket Island. My junior year concentration explored Alzheimer’s Disease and its global, devastating effect, particularly on my family, when we learned of my grandmother’s diagnosis. Seeing her mind degenerate while her body remained fully functional was unimaginably difficult for all of us; as her memories faded, I wanted to ensure that the decades worth of ones that I still had were preserved through my art. Throughout the year, I depicted the disease in its basic biological form, as well as its psychological, physical, and emotional manifestations in my life, through mostly pencil and pen work. In keeping with my desire to fuel my artwork with personal connections, I decided to center my sustained investigation this year around Nantucket Island, a place that my family travels to annually and in which we have created lasting memories. More specifically, this summer, we self-isolated on the island for two months, a period in which I experienced significant personal growth and liberation. By drawing, painting, and collaging the particular places, traditions, and feelings that I associate with Nantucket, I am able to relive and relay the joy from thousands of miles away.

I will forever keep with me the memories and pieces I have made during my time in ESD Art. It has shaped me into the artist I never imagined I could be, and for that, I am incredibly grateful.

Penelope’s works are often ludic and amusing mixed media pieces that reveal themselves slowly as we spend time observing them. The clash that happens when text is used as texture complements her ability to depict the subject in a realistic manner. Penelope’s pieces are always an invitation to think and remember.

Juan Negroni, AP Studio Art Teacher

Collection From Treasure Island

This was a still life assigned by my teacher in junior year, completed entirely in colored pencil. It was one of the most time-consuming pieces I have ever made and I even nearly left it in an airport trying to finish it, but I’m really proud of the finished product.

Pills

The next few pieces are also from my Alzheimer’s concentration from last year. Currently there’s no cure for the disease, only a handful of prescribed medications that can help alleviate or slow down the progression of symptoms. I volunteer with the Alzheimer’s Association here in Dallas and all of our fundraising initiatives go towards one day finding a cure. These hands long for this future medical breakthrough that hopefully we can discover soon.

Tangled

This piece is one of the more biology focused ones in my concentration, and it’s called Tangled because Alzheimer’s on the microscopic level is caused by protein tangles in the brain that disrupt cognitive functions like memory.

I really like working with collage because I like the ability to manipulate the work with my hands; cutting things out, transposing images on top of one another, using different textures and layers to bring my ideas into another dimension.

Mind Map

This mindmap really encompasses everything I researched about the disease like its biology, symptoms, side effects, risk factors, and global effects. Learning about Alzheimer’s and simultaneously applying it to my art was something I really enjoyed. I also really like the composition of this piece with everything stemming from the brain, and the contrast between the black paper and colored pencils.

A Fatel Freak

This piece is a chaotic collage of a bunch of things I found around my house. It was the final piece in my concentration last year—made during quarantine—and it communicates that ultimately Alzheimer's is fatal. Everything surrounding the skull relates to thoughts and feelings associated with the disease: Feeling childish, having a jumbled body and mind, having thoughts race through the head but being unable to communicate them, and that those diagnosed have to live shakily walking the tightrope between life and death.

Picking Blueberries

This was my first piece for my concentration this year, which focuses on Nantucket Island. Every summer since I was born my family has gone to Nantucket, so it’s a place I like to call my second home. After spending most of this past summer there, I knew I wanted to capture its beauty in my artwork this year. One of the traditions we have each year is spending a day picking the native blackberries around the island and eventually baking them into a pie.

Slice of Heaven

This piece is the second in the series on the blackberry tradition, and it resembles a page of a recipe book for the blackberry pie my mom and grandmother would always make with our picked berries. This pie is a taste from my childhood, a slice of heaven, that I will always savor.

Book Nook

This was a really unique piece to create, because it challenged my usual format of a canvas and required working on a much smaller scale. I wanted to actually paint on a book page to give it meaning and also the vibe of a collage. The book itself actually takes place in Nantucket, like a lot of fictional books sold at the local bookstore, Mitchells Book Corner. In the gallery, the book is propped open on a book stand which completes the 3D element of the piece that I was going for.

Coming Home

Each summer house we stay in holds its own sentimental memories and traditions. This house specifically stuck out to me because of its pretty landscape and roses, so I knew I wanted to paint it. Before this year, I never really worked with paint, but I have come to really enjoy the peace that comes to me when I am painting. This was one of my most labor intensive pieces that I first painted with acrylic and finished off with collaging quotes from a book about the joy, peace, comfort, home, all things that I experience when I return to Nantucket.

All is Lost

This piece was a part of my junior year concentration on Alzheimer’s disease. My grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s around six years ago, and since then I’ve seen the depressing extent to which it can change one’s entire life, so I decided I wanted to depict the effects of Alzheimer’s on human’s lives like my grandmother’s for my sustained investigation.

This piece specifically focuses on the many basic functions of the mind and body that are lost, like remembering simple dictionary words or a motor function of yours, forgetting the rudimentary ability to hold a pencil.

Flying, Flying

On the island, biking is everyone’s primary form of transportation and the island is covered with miles of bike paths. When I’m there, my bike basically becomes my key to getting around, which allows me to explore a lot of the hills and sides of the island not immediately around me. The feeling on the bike as I descend and ascend each path is liberating, as though I’m flying, disconnected from anything tying me to reality. A collage was the best way to communicate this special feeling, and I enjoyed creating this one out of pen, watercolor and patterned paper.

You may also be interested in —