Anna Yeh

Santa Catalina School

Junior

I have always gravitated towards art as a medium to express outwardly what I inwardly desire to keep hidden, and I find it increasingly important to share my creations and perspective with those around me.

Closer is a product of one of my daydreams, a haven in which I inexplicably escape to from time to time. I currently find myself increasingly stumbling into daydreams, and can only bring to life the vibrant and gauzy worlds I envision through painting. A meadow in the grass, sun cascading down in waves of decadently warm rays, and a soundscape filled with the flitting of birds and humming of a quiet creek. 

Nature is a keystone in my life thanks to my family, but in my idealistic world it is practically a living, breathing character in the narrative. I include the addition of three leaf clovers as a nod to my own fickle superstitions, as I find myself wary of relying on four leaf clovers due to their “lucky” quality, the security of three leaves reassuring my confidence and reliance on myself to create without the unsure nature of relying on luck. While two hands are depicted in ‘Closer’, I have learned through quarantine that I thrive and enjoy time alone, and find that I treasure it even more now that I have returned somewhat to social normalcy. The two hands symbolize connection within: a visual representation of the healthy relationship I have fought to create with myself during my time alone during COVID. In my fantasy meadow there are no words spoken, no sounds uttered from human lips, and that is what makes it an impossibly attainably haven. The silence in the noise of nature, the ability to exist peacefully with myself, and the joy of simply just being are all I need.