3 minute read
Chloe Park
from LACES Sole 23-24
by LACES UNTIED
Story by Leilani Krantz
When Chloe Park first saw Diego Velázquez’ “Las Meninas,” she was captivated. Velázquez’ depiction of Spanish court life struck her for how the artist manipulated perspective.
“So you see how the perspective of the room makes you feel like you’re inside of the room and everyone is just staring at you? I just like it,” said Park. “It’s cool. I don’t know how to articulate that better.”
Park has been painting and drawing for as long as she can remember. A “messy desk” inside her house stores all of her supplies — except for acrylic paint.
“I’m like acrylic paint’s number one hater,” said Park. “It dries too quickly, it gets all over your paint brushes and if you don’t clean them out in time, they get stuck there, and you can’t take them out. They get all over your clothes and they don’t wash out and they’re just bad.”
Favoring gouache, marker, and watercolor, Park creates pieces blending surrealism and realism, crafting hauntingly beautiful and sometimes somewhat unsettling scenes. Taking AP Studio Art with Mr. Daniel Kuffel, pieces from Park’s portfolio, including “The Human Body,” have been displayed in the designated case in the orange building. The piece featured large, disembodied human parts floating on a dark canvas.
“So I emphasize what I think is like the most important parts of the body like eyes, and then mouth, teeth, stuff like that,” said Park. “And then I just made them super large. And I made it into like a 2D, I guess, picture of what I thought the human body was. There wasn’t a deeper meaning. I just thought it was cool. I just like drawing body parts.”
Creativity runs in the family — Park’s older sister, Candace, currently attends the Rhode Island School of Design where she’s majoring in Fine Arts.
“I’m tall, she’s short. She’s 5’1”, I’m 5’7”,” said Park. “We’re very opposite from each other. Like she’s very extroverted, and I’m very introverted.”
The two sisters differ, however, in more than personality traits. Candace’s art tends to lean on the side of realism, while Chloe’s is more surreal.
“So she’ll do a scene of her and her friends quietly drinking tea, but I would do something that doesn’t make sense,” said Park. “I like making reality more imaginative.”
Despite queries from peers about which art school she’ll be attending next year, Chloe also plans on pursuing a different path than her sister. She did not apply to a single art-focused school, or any art program.
“I feel like once you make your hobby your profession, it kind of becomes something that you’re obligated to do, not something that you want to do,” said Park. “That’s what my motto is: Keep your hobby a hobby.”
Park’s art doesn’t necessarily have an underlying meaning. To her, it’s second nature.
“I’ve just been doing it for so long that it’s kind of like being bilingual. It’s like you can speak that second language, that you can speak it for your whole life,” said Park. “You don’t know why you speak it but you just do.” +
