From drawing stick figures in childhood to creating beautiful paintings inspired by images, music and strong emotions, sophomore Kendall Torres explores her love of art throughout this quarantined summer. 

“I would say I put a lot of emotion towards what I do,” Torres said,  “But art… I kind of just go off what I’m feeling,” 

During quarantine, Torres’s relatively stable mental and emotional state has influenced her artwork, through the use of color.  Like emotions, colors are complex and messy, but with art she uses color to her advantage. Torres used brighter colors to convey happiness. When she feels sad, she uses darker shades to convey that as well. When she is feeling relaxed or normal, she uses a mix of brighter and darker colors to create something more neutral.Torres described the kaleidoscope of colors on the painting to the left as all of her emotions throughout quarantine are put on a poster board. The loud colors and striking patterns express the fluctuations and the complexity that is emotion. Torres feels that emotion is beautifully portrayed in her art and her creative process. 

“I feel sometimes overwhelmed when I come up with an idea, but I feel good about it and go step by step,” Torres said.

Torres’ process of creating her abstract artwork starts, like all great artwork starts, with an idea. That incredible, yet overwhelming idea that will soon transform into a masterpiece. First, Torres comes up with an image or looks on the internet for an image that she wants to recreate or create and chooses a medium to create it on(. Using duct tape, paint, poster board, a canvas, album cover or any other art supply, Torres recreates the image, but makes it her own. She twists the colors, morphs the shapes, and distorts the patterns to create something totally original. While Torres creates her artwork, she listens to 90s and 2000s rap music, using that as inspiration as well as her emotions. Torres is usually done with her piece after a week to a month, depending on the other events in her life. Finally, she displays the artwork around her home, so her family members can see. According to Torres’ mother Carla, Torres’ art is brilliant, eccentric, and completely unique. 

“It’s a whole different way of expanding your mind from what you hear,” Torres said, as she described how music, her art, and herself are intertwined. 

Torres’ connection between music and art are very personal and mindful. Torres always listens to music while she is creating art and she does this for hours. It’s her way to free herself from the stresses of the world and school such as: homework, anxiety, politics, worry, etc. In Torres’ opinion, you cannot create art without listening to music. It adds a new depth and dimension to art that you wouldn’t have, by creating art without music. Reading song lyrics and titles ,makes her feel more connected to it, and that influences her art in a new type of way. 

“I think her art is very much so retro. . She has her own style. She does what she wants to do,” sophomore Ella Abiecunas said.

 Torres loves art and has been loving art since childhood,  becoming more and more comfortable with it and her pop art/ cartoon-like style. During childhood, Torres just drew what she saw with a pencil; now, she draws a specific image from her imagination or computer, with paint, duct tape etc. Her art has evolved throughout her years of practice, and experience.

“Art is finding the beauty in something and appreciating it,” Carla said. 

The importance of art is that it weaves together beauty, imagination, creativity, emotion, color, etc. Torres believes that art is very important for everyone. Art comes from Torres’ own ideas and imagination. She elaborates on how art is someone’s own unique way of creating and expressing themselves. Art shows someone’s own individual perspective on things and the world. To Torres, art is a way of expanding your mind and creativity. With art, there are no limits. Art has a huge influence not only on ourselves, but as a society, for we cherish what someone can create. With art you can do whatever you want to do and that is its importance. 

“There’s no stopping your creative mind,” Torres said.   

Torres loves art and will continue to love art throughout the years.To her, art brings out the connection between emotions and art, music and art, etc. To her, art and her creative process expresses who she is, in terms of emotions, and mental state. During this summer and fall of quarantine and isolation, know that Torres is creating, for the love of art.