In the recently opened ART600 exhibit titled ‘Epilogue,’ students were challenged to express what an epilogue meant to them. This theme was especially important to many of the Seniors in the class, who are beginning to think about their futures and the epilogues to their Andover experiences. From photography to painting to 3D installations, each artist captured their interpretation of the annual theme through creation.
Grayson Flynn ’26
“I primarily work with film, specifically documentaries, and photography. In my filmmaking, I focus on nature storytelling, as well as extreme sports in the outdoors–my latest film was an ultramarathon documentary. My photography is solely nature based and just sharing what I found beautiful from interesting perspectives in nature. I was fortunate enough to grow up with extremely outdoorsy parents. My whole childhood and upbringing was shaped around the outdoors, whether it was skiing or hiking or mountain biking. This created my passion and love for the outdoors, which is the number one inspiration for all my work. This piece in particular mainly focuses on how an epilogue or ‘the end’ is not one moment, but rather years of memories and separate pieces of life, and you can only see the full image when they are all put together.”
Jack Angelo ’26
“I primarily work in architectural models, 3D design, and illustration. I like to explore themes of human representation by highlighting how different cultures or eras define themselves through their art. As an artist I struggle with being okay with small imperfections in my work. Sometimes, I scrap ideas if one thing doesn’t work for me. I overcame this on this project by really pushing myself to keep working knowing that I should only judge my work as a whole product. My project actually started as just a sketchbook drawing I drew two years ago while watching Stranger Things. If I ever were to actually design buildings, I don’t want them to necessarily make a noticeable impact on people, I want to subconsciously benefit people’s lives through more creativity being added to our urban spaces.”
Bella Shmuylovich ’26
“I mainly use alcohol markers for illustrations. My art style is definitely not realistic, it’s more stylized with very specific facial features. My art usually has different characters that I develop from people I meet and see everywhere. I tend to make little stories for them and illustrate their lives. My current challenge in my art is coming up with new characters. I usually draw the same characters over and over, like my character Linus the Fisherman. I want to push myself to draw new characters. I try to overcome these challenges by bringing my sketchbook to more places. I try to have some sort of sketchbook in my backpack so I can draw when I get inspired by people I see.”
Sophia You ’26
“One of the main challenges I faced is when you have to do art for a class. Sometimes I lack the motivation to do it because it feels less creative and more like a burden. I feel like the message I wanted to convey is that there’s value in the process of making things. A lot of times when I do art, I focus on the finished piece, and then I just think of the process as more grueling, especially with hyperrealism. But this year, I’ve really been trying to appreciate the actual process of drawing and how that in itself is really valuable. My art this year has really reflected a lot of the things that I’ve been thinking about. After going to boarding school, obviously I moved far away from my family, so I’ve been thinking a lot about family. I’ve just been reflecting a lot on childhood and the past now that I’m about to graduate. [The piece is] a combination of excitement for the future and appreciation for the past.”
Penelope Tong ’26
“When deciding on my ART600 project, I knew I wanted to do something more than just painting, and I figured taxidermy was probably a good way to stand out from previous projects. I’ve sort of warmed myself up to the process by doing taxidermy-adjacent work, like mummification or just tanning [or] drying the skin. Evidently in my current project, I’m really inspired by meat, especially red meat. It just looks really pretty, and it’s a fun subject to paint. I used to be a lot more focused on realism and technical skill. I still am, but now I think I allow myself to have more fun while painting. I take a lot more risks than I used to because I’m more confident in my abilities to fix things.”
Aeva Cleare ’26
“I’m mainly a sculptor, which can be very inter-medium. For example, the headdress is decorated with acrylic, gems, and feathers. I’ve also worked with wire, to an extent. However, the painting is acrylic with air dry clay stars. My work is very tied to the idea of identity. I think my philosophy is that we’re all made up of one million little pieces of the people around, and those pieces are supposed to be how people interact with one another to create new colours and something bigger themselves, like a star. I want people to come out of my work feeling a little bit better about whatever situation they’re in. It’s supposed to be uplifting or a little kick of joy, if you will. If I achieve that, then I think I’ve succeeded.”
