Hourglass Issue I 2022-23 Revised 10 14

08 | ARTS the hourglass
ARTIST OF THE MONTH:
CARLEY TAYLOR ‘23
Staff Writer
LESLIE NGUYEN ‘23
Senior Leslie Nguyen returns from a creative summer as Head of the Arts League
Design by Leela Rajagopal ‘25 and Laura Mantini ‘24
Photography by Sophia Ran ‘23 and Leslie Nguyen ‘23
Despite an unconventional three
years of Upper School, Leslie
Nguyen ‘23 has become an
incredibly accomplished visual
artist. Her work can be seen frequently
in Baldwin’s art shows, and this year, she
has taken her place as Senior Head of Arts
League.
Nguyen has been exploring the art
curriculum throughout her time in Baldwin’s
Upper School. She has taken Ms.
Wilke’s Drawing and Painting class every
year since 10th grade, but her artist career
began all the way back in her middle
school art classes.
This past summer, Nguyen took her
passion for art beyond Baldwin’s walls and
spent six weeks at an arts program hosted
by Carnegie Mellon University. While she
prefers expressing her talent through painting,
she took seven different art classes,
experimenting with everything from photography
to screen-printing. She was able
to explore her passion, meet student artists
from around the world, and experience creating
in a new setting.
Nguyen describes her artistic process
as a “routine” where she follows a specific
process in order to create her final piece.
She explains, “First I look for inspiration,
then I decide what size I want it to be, and
then I make the canvas and just start.”
Although she prefers painting, Nguyen
occasionally draws, with no preference
for her subjects. She finds her inspiration in
“anything that looks cool.” When it comes
to her preferred content, Nguyen loves to
paint landscapes or colorful abstract pieces.
The “vibes” of her paintings vary, as
she expresses that her work is “really just
everywhere.”
She is not the only artist in her family,
either. Nguyen was introduced to visual
art through her two older sisters, who share
her love for art.
Nguyen especially appreciates the
Baldwin art program’s abundance of artistic
resources, saying, “We have a lot compared
to other [schools].” This plethora of
options offers students many opportunities
to explore their own unique interests.
There are materials for sculpting, painting,
graphic designing, jewelry-making, and
more.
“It’s not everywhere that you see a
jewelry studio,” Nguyen adds.
One of her goals as Arts League head
this year is to experiment with class portfolios.
Nguyen’s plans to have each art class
pick a theme to express, and each student
create a piece with respect to the theme.
Art is an important part of Leslie’s life,
and she hopes to support her fellow artists
within the school community through her
position as Head of Arts League. She explains,
“I’m not the best with words, so I
like using art to express what I’m feeling.”
“Pink Sky Mountain” by Leslie Nguyen ‘23