Above: Desmond by Nicole Morikawa. Below text: Self-Portrait by Annie Xu

Works by Hotchkiss students Nicole Morikawa ’21 and Annie Xu ’22 were selected for inclusion in the 2021 National Art Honor Society (NAHS)/National Junior Art Honor Society (NJAHS) Juried Exhibition. The organization received 1,187 entries and selected 93 artworks, accompanied by artist statements, for exhibition in the National Art Education Association (NAEA) Virtual Gallery. 

Submissions were juried digitally by representatives from eight member schools of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD) — Burren College of Art, College for Creative Studies, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Laguna College of Art & Design, Maryland Institute College of Art, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and Parsons School of Design.

Juror selections were guided by scoring in 5 categories: Visual Communication, Execution, Formal Elements, Originality, and Artist Statement. Nicole and Annie's artist statements are included below.

Congratulations to Nicole and Annie!

Artist statement for Desmond by Nicole Morikawa:

This narrative portrait of a fellow student uses color, symbolism, composition, and medium to express the pressure he felt to conform to the social expectations of “proper” behavior around the opposite gender as a heterosexual male, versus his desire to enjoy people regardless of how they identify.

Artist statement for Self-portrait by Annie Xu: 

This self-portrait explores my experience of solitude in both representational and abstract fashions. It is a subtle subversion of a derogatory definition of the “fall”, portraying myself plunging, or “falling”, into a welcoming search for peacefulness and salvation as if cushioned by art.