Secaucus High School student Oniel Rodriguiz created his award-winning artistic silhouette by accident.
“I was using a paper towel to dry off the brush, and when I opened the towel, I had a cool image of a face,” said Rodriguiz last week. “I used charcoal to make it into a face profile of a woman. The top of the head was open and the blotches looked like they were floating out of her head like dreams.”
Teenage artists from around Hudson County have spent much of this month in Secaucus displaying their work in two different shows.
Two weeks ago, the Hudson County Alliance of Teen Artists held the Mill Creek Arts Expo. And this week, Panasonic is hosting an event run by the Hudson County Office of Cultural Affairs and Tourism through May 21.
“The Hudson County Alliance of Teen Artists [the first show] is an arts fair representing all the high schools in Hudson County,” said Secaucus High School Art Supervisor Walter Slazinski. “The purpose of the show is to give the children a chance to display their work in a place where everybody can see it. There were 2000 pieces of art work on display at Mill Creek Mall.”
Best in Show winners in the Mill Creek show won a $100 gift certificate to Pearl Paints, and other winners received plaques at a ceremony two weeks ago. Judges select students for scholarships for work that seems creative and energetic.
“The best piece could be among the strongest piece technically, that looks the best; things that are very representational,” said Slazinski. “The energetic piece is something where someone is being experimental and not afraid of using different techniques besides a traditional portrait. They might incorporate different mediums within the portrait. One time we had a student use different pieces from magazine ads, pasting pieces of paper from the magazine color that represented skin shades or hair or arms. It was exquisitely drawn and then brought to another level.”
Twelve winners
Secaucus High School brought back 12 winners from the Mill Creek show.
The aforementioned Rodrigiuz won Best in Show for the mixed-media piece involving a towel, charcoal, and a dirty paint brush.
Annette Slanina, who won third place for black-and-white photography and honorable mention for color photography, has been taking classes at the School of Visual Arts.
“We have time to go into the studio, set up lights and use the facility,” said Slanina. “There were models waiting for a photo shoot, and I took a picture of them.” Slanina said she may pursue photography in college.
David Ryals came in third for color photography for a series of theme pictures he did last semester.
“The theme was ‘Life with money, life without money’,” said Ryals. “I set up my friend Juan to look like he had no money. He was sleeping on a cardboard box wearing a cowboy hat and holding a saxophone and a sign saying ‘Will play for money or food.” There were three photos from three different angles.”
Other winners were Lauren Costello, second place for digital photography; Amanda Pineto, honorable mention for black and white drawing; Nicole Trocchia, second place, mixed media; Lenny Farinola, first place digital photography; Robert Becker, second place for painting with oils/acrylics; and Yuri Kikuyama first place for painting with watercolor/tempera.
The show was judged by outside artists from Bergen, Hudson and Passaic Counties who are professionals as well as representatives from Jersey City University and the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.
Bob Cimmino, who works in the advertising department of Merck Pharmaceutical as a photographer, became a judge a few years back because of an affiliation with the Art Directors Club of New Jersey.
“It’s a great opportunity to see a lot of really wonderful work and see what’s on the mind of up-and-coming artists, what they’re thinking about, and what their influences are,” said Cimmino. “It’s astounding to see that at the high school level, the quality of some of the pieces. They could easily be professional quality work.”
More art this week
Five Secaucus High School students went to the Panasonic event, which was scheduled to be judged Friday with an awards dinner. Pieces are prejudged by the school faculty to select five.
Slazinski says the show offers another venue for students to show their artwork. The work is hanging in a walkway in the Panasonic lobby with 40 panels of glass set up for it to hang in a gallery setting.
The five students are: Kaitlin Wolhrab, Daniel Morales, Daniel Primevera, Thomas Amendola, and Lauren Costello.
Costello’s entry is a photo she took after the senior prom, when she and her friends went into New York City. “The guys were standing at a hot dog stand,” said Costello. “They were all dressed up because we just went to the prom, and there they were buying hot dogs. The prom was memorable, and when I look at that picture it makes me laugh.”