Michelle Bac is a student at Culver City High School, graduating next year, and has been painting seriously throughout high school.
Her artwork was selected by a panel of judges—voted as the district’s favorite— and will be proudly shown off at our country’s capitol. The art competition, hosted online by U.S. Representative Karen Bass for California’s 33rd congressional district, is held every year to encourage and support young artists.
“The process is actually called vectoring,” said 17-year-old artist, Michelle Bac, explaining how she created one of her latest art pieces, “A Face,”—which is currently on display in the U.S. Capitol for the next year.
She started her piece with a photograph, and then heavily edited the image digitally, replacing it by different geometric shapes of color—mostly shades of blue.
In the image, Bac sits in a bus, with pages of writing in the background of the window behind her, as she holds a pen and square, yellow paper. Since there was no actual paint and brush involved, I asked her if she would really call it a painting.
“I consider it a painting in its own right. A digital painting, it could be called,” Bac answered.
“Since winning the competition,” said Bac, “I’ve just had such amazing opportunities, like meeting Karen Bass and being congratulated by so many supportive people. It’s really an honor to go to Washington, D.C. I’d also like to thank my family, especially my sister Angela—she is the greatest.”
And to show her sister how much she appreciates her support, Bac chose Angela to accompany her on her trip to D.C.
Bac explained her philosophy of art in reference to the “Enzymatic” art exhibit and residency program under Carolyn Castaño that she participated in earlier this year. Art is like an enzyme, one that is necessary, because it exposes viewers to problems of society and in a way, speeds up the process of change that otherwise would have remained stagnant.
For her own work, one thing she hopes to change is people’s ignorance.
“Silly as it may seem, I want people to be open-minded,” said Bac.
Although she admitted some visual effects on “A Face” were merely for aesthetics, when she has the luxury of time, Bac said she tries to add her in symbolism to bring out her thesis in her art.
“In one piece I made,” she explained, “for example, the hands, skin, and clothing were made from different materials. The skin had contour lines drawn across, the hands were made from pastel and Conté crayon, and the clothing was made from watercolor. I suppose I wanted to show that people are three parts—who they are, what they appear to be, and what they do (with their hands).”
With a laugh, she added that the thesis is not always so obvious to the average viewer. Art is often an expression of freedom and ideas, but that it need not always speak for itself and may need explanation.
Remedios Varo was one of her favorite artists not only for the beauty in her work, but the many intriguing details that come together to tell a story. More often than not, that story is quite difficult to tell with a single image, and it is difficult to read the singe image on its own.
If it’s not annoying forthcoming, it can often be too cryptic. However, art is communal—shared, reviewed, judged in competition, and interpreted in conversation. It’s the relationships between the arts and artists that help realize their meaning.
Throughout my conversation with her, Bac was thoughtful and showed humility and thanksgiving in her words.
Busy with her schoolwork, LACMA internship, and a huge panel she was painting for an AVPA art fundraiser, she was tired from a long day of work. And soon she’ll get even busier, as she will begin the daunting task of college applications and deciding what to go after graduation—weighing what and where to study, career goals, her social life, and tuition costs.
“Most of all,” she said, “I’m fearful of finding the perfect school, but finding that I can’t afford to enroll.”
I’m sure, though, that her fears will be relieved. Regardless of her college plans, it’s clear that she’ll work hard and her family and friends will be supportive of her.