Art is an incredible way to express one’s personality, thoughts, ideas, or frankly anything without having to directly say it. There is a wide range of art forms that help accomplish this, such as drawing, painting, music, fashion, and writing, amongst many others. One particular Wiregrass Ranch student, Olivia Robertson, is using multiple forms of art to express herself earning numerous accomplishments along the way.

Olivia found a love for art through drawing and crafts back in elementary school where she started to create a variety of things like her own comics and sketches of characters. Over the years, Olivia has engaged in various new forms of art like music, painting, and clothing to express herself. Although drawing and painting started as a hobby, Olivia was passionate about making it something she prioritized. Olivia thus began taking classes and eventually entering competitions to work on her knowledge of art along with her skill to create work she was proud of.

“It often is a prompt that pushes me and tests my creativity,” Roberton explained regarding the competitions she has already participated in.

This school year alone Olivia has entered three competitions, and out of the two already scored, she’s placed in both. In the first competition, Robertson placed second in both the school and district. This was for the Reflections Art Program with the prompt “I will change the world by…” where she submitted an acrylic portrait painting modeled after her friend Morgan.

Olivia’s main goal with the piece was to explore her understanding of foreshortening along with using a variety of different colors, as her final piece featured a purple, pink, and blue color scheme. She also had the idea to include butterflies to add the effect of them moving across and off the painting. Another unique detail Robertson used was asking her family and friends to answer the prompt and she put the words onto the butterflies.

“The idea for my answer to the prompt was that you can change the world by sharing your ideas,” Robertson explained. “Which I communicated by having the butterflies appear to be escaping the figure’s mind into the world.”

The second and current contest Olivia entered is the ESS Art Contest 2022. Olivia submitted a colorful drawing of a candy styled art classroom with the model being another of her friends, Tori, to the prompt “What would it be like to go to a school made of candy.”  The competition is still underway, but so far Robertson is a top 5 finalist within her grade group in the country. The voting for the competition took place in early April where people could support Olivia’s work by liking her piece on ESS Education’s Instagram or Facebook page.

The last competition Robertson most recently entered was for the Dalí Museum Student Surrealist Art Exhibit 2022. The prompt was “The Metamorphic Moment” with the Dalí Museum defining Metamorphosis as “a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means.” For this contest Robertson submitted a self-portrait of her simultaneous destroying herself yet leaping in & becoming a new version of herself. Olivia received the highest prize available by having her piece chosen to be displayed in the Dalí museum.

“[This competition] made me research surrealism and put me out of my comfort zone, which I believe is important for growth as an artist,” Robertson expressed.

Art for many young people, like Olivia, can be an outlet to show how they truly feel as they grow, mature, and change, which can be hard to navigate.

“Art can be interpreted, so only the creator knows their true intention, which is important for those who have trouble being vulnerable with words,” Robertson explained. “Art doesn’t have to be only for expressing emotions, it can be just for creating your own world of pretty things, and giving you the pride of seeing the result of your hard work.”

If you would like to support Olivia, her piece for the Dalí Museum Student Surrealist Art Exhibit 2022 will be displayed at the museum from May 7 to Aug. 21, where you can view her incredible work for yourself. If you would like to visit the Museum, access to the ground floor is free and open to the public, but online time reservations are available here.