The Art of Using Your Voice

by Lois Chang

*Food Brings Memories,* tempera paint on paper, 2025.

Beginning in first grade, kids bullied me by making fun of my Korean lunches, calling me racial slurs, and excluding me from games. This made me wonder about my identity and has stuck with me throughout my life. At the same time, when I was in elementary school, I started to delve deeply into art. I realized that art could reflect identity through language and symbols, creating beauty within the artwork. When I was in 5th grade, I had my artwork selected by PS.ART and was exhibited at the MET. The artwork depicted the time of COVID, illustrating a graphite drawing of a doctor surrounded by the COVID Virus. This depicted an important part of history, as there were many suffering from the deaths and anxiety brought upon by the surrounding virus.

I have always been curious about how best to use my voice and show my emotions through art making, so that the observer could clearly experience what I was trying to convey. When I was 8 years old, I began to take classes at The Arts Students League. One teacher who made a great impact on my art was Wendy Shalen. Without her guidance, I wouldn’t be at my current skill level. I have known her for four years, and she has been a constant source of support and encouragement. She makes me feel empowered, which has had a profound impact on my growth as an artist. In 7th grade, I got selected for the Manhattan Borough Arts Festival and have gotten a scholarship to study at the Art Students League for my self-portrait depicting my Asian American culture. My journey at the ASL has helped me significantly build confidence and has given meaning to my work. As a result, I was accepted at Laguardia High School and am now a sophomore.

At the beginning of fall, I had the opportunity to join the Whitney Youth Insights program. It is an art-making program where you get to meet an artist who has work featured at the Whitney and get to learn the process it takes to create a project. In this program, you get to collaborate with your peers to create inspirational artwork. I also worked with Maria Zurkow, who works with technology to create artwork of life science. She helped me strive to expand my creativity and get inspiration from my peers, and think of my artwork through a different perspective, from an observer’s point of view.

I’m currently at ASL working with Max Ginsburg on Saturdays. This class taught me color theory and various oil painting techniques. I have improved significantly by learning from the amazing artists and teachers around me. I am grateful that I have been able to take classes from then on to the present. I hope to continue taking classes and further develop my artistic skills to become a stronger artist.

You can view more of Lois’ art @loistheartist on Instagram