Young Creators Art spotlight: Arianna Louie
Sixteen-year-old Chinese-Korean American Arianna Louie makes art in many mediums but often gravitates towards painting. “I love to incorporate my cultures and my experiences into any medium of work but especially painting.” Her submission for Young Creators Project began as a self-portrait of her current 16-year-old self. Yet, Louie collaged an enlarged photograph of herself as a toddler over her painted face. The image is sliced in half, revealing her painted portrait below—in places, eyes, mouths and noses of her young and current self are doubled to express a fractured multiplicity.
Louie talks about her work as a reflection on the time and space between the two portraits, and the collage also speaks to the complexities of our inner worlds—each of our identities is unique and shaped by our family, experiences, and culture. In creating a piece that looked back at her former self, Louie’s work also speaks to the larger diaspora, and celebrates multiplicity. “Though I'm not sure what the future will bring to me,” Louie says, “I know that surely I want to work for my communities and use my art as a means to accomplish that.”
Hey! Did you enjoy this piece? We can’t do it without you. We are member-supported, so your donation is critical to KCRW's music programming, news reporting, and cultural coverage. Help support the DJs, journalists, and staff of the station you love.
Here's how:
- Sign-up for our newsletters.
- Become a KCRW member.
- Subscribe to our Podcasts.
- Donate to KCRW.
- Download our App.
More from KCRW
Question Everything
CultureReporter Brian Reed re-examines everything about journalism, the profession he thought he knew. In the middle of making his second hit podcast, Brian got sued. Accused.
Weekend film reviews: ‘Speak No Evil,’ ‘My Old Ass’
EntertainmentCritics review the latest film releases: “Speak No Evil,” “My Old Ass,” “The Killer's Game,” and “Look Into My Eyes.”
Ciao, Alimento: Zack Pollack on closing his Silver Lake restaurant
Food & DrinkAlimento’s owner, Zack Pollack, explains why he closed his 10-year-old Italian bistro, and what it takes for today’s neighborhood restaurants to survive.
Documentarian Alex Gibney turns his lens to ‘The Sopranos’
ArtsAlex Gibney tells us about getting famously tight-lipped “Sopranos” creator David Chase to open up for the new project “Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos.”
India Donaldson has a ‘Good One’ for you
ArtsDirector India Donaldson tells us about using her feature film debut “Good One” to subvert audience expectations about stories set in the woods.
The British film ‘If…’ blew a young Alan Poul’s mind
ArtsEmmy-winner Alan Poul reflects on how Lindsay Anderson's 1969 film “If…” profoundly affected him during his youth.