2026 NAHS Juried Exhibition

Painting

I was inspired by my Haitian and African American roots and the idea that identity is layered, not divided. I used vibrant color and symbolic hibiscus flowers to represent unity within diversity. Art matters to me because it allows me to tell my story visually and celebrate cultural connections.

Painting

I got inspired by my sister’s exhausting yet passionate life. The contrast of light and shadow reflects her dual identity; ambitious theatre student and consultant by day, and a dedicated gamer by night. Her world is carefully balanced between her true passion, work pressures, and personal escape.

Painting – Best in Show

This artwork challenges defining maturity by age. It explores society’s expectations of adult independence, arguing that age and maturity are not parallel. By revealing the gap between social standards and individual growth, it suggests maturity should be understood through personal experience.

Drawing

I think art is the difference between survival and living. Survival isn’t beautiful; it has almost no room for love or creativeness. All the thought when surviving is your next moment. Art allows people to move past their next step. To breathe air for more than a second.

Mixed Media

The piece is meant to remind you of a time when your biggest worries were what colors you wanted to choose for your bracelet. A way to form a fake sense of confidence as an item that you can put on and take off.

Folk Arts & Crafts

I created this ceramic vase featuring koi fish. The process required patience and attention to detail. Art matters because it helps transform functional objects into meaningful pieces that tell a story and bring beauty into everyday life.

Drawing

Entering senior year, I was overwhelmed by the amount of college materials that were thrown at me. Even after I got into my top choice, college stuff just kept coming. It felt like being forced to eat more food when you’re already full, which inspired the imagery in this piece.

Painting

This self-portrait was inspired by low blood sugars. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when I was 2, and the feeling of hypoglycemia has always been impossible to describe. This painting shows the disorientation I both feel and have adapted to, which I could never express through words.

Drawing

I aimed to practice foreshortening in a drawing using graphite as well as achieve contrast and a range of values. This piece represents how I want to take on any opportunities and challenges that will help me reach my goals.

Drawing

Photorealistic still life of blue silk cloth tied around an orange and teal pepper shaker, drawn in colored charcoal. This piece seemed endless, as I drowned in a cloth drawing. Checking the reference over and over to achieve perfection… It’s just one of the hundreds of facets of being an artist.

Painting

I was learning acrylic color mixing techniques and acrylic glazing. I picked the candles that I wanted to render and the background color. I was interested in mastering the ability to make cellophane look realistic.

Sculpture – Best in Show

Using glass cutters, grozing pliers, a grinder, and soldering iron, I hand-cut, ground, foiled, and soldered each glass piece together to create Elettra, “shining.” Modernizing the ancient and mythological female form, I created the spine to signify divinity and strength. I put lights inside.

Painting

This piece reimagines the myth about Athena and Medusa to depict the realities of sexual harassment in South Korea. As an advocate for women’s rights in South Korea, I created this art as a call to action for the Korea’s justice system regarding how lenient the punishment is for offenders.

Painting

This piece explores the coexistence of Buddhism and Christianity in my life. Growing up between two faiths, I found harmony rather than conflict. By wearing symbols of both, I express a quiet balance that shapes my identity and worldview, bridging spiritual and cultural influences into one personal work.

Drawing

This artwork, made with chalk pastels to bring out the vibrant colors hidden within, was inspired by puppetry and the theater, a skeleton hand being held up by strings and made to continue acting in a play.

Mixed Media

This work is an oil portrait. Its main idea is surrounded by the feeling of being trapped or restricted. Throughout the course of the three paintings, the subject moves from feeling uncomfortable and trapped to feeling free. 3D elements are included with the chains connecting the canvases together.

Photography

This work showcases the hidden gems of my city. My creative process involves playing with lighting, angles, and colors. Through my art, I hope to remind people to find beauty in their surroundings. To me, art matters because it captures emotions and memories.

Folk Arts & Crafts

Butterflies have always been significant in my family, as we believe they are pieces of our lost family coming back to us. To tie in that sentiment of love, reds and pinks became the main color palate, and the yellow border symbolizes the hopes and dreams surrounding our belief.

Painting

Each item has a connection to my life and a memory. My goal was to show that they were all important and had stories behind them, but not reveal the exact memory.

Drawing

I created this blue jay drawing by studying reference photos and sketching simple shapes first. I imagined a winter morning to guide soft shading. Layering details helped the feathers feel soft. Art matters because it helps us slow down, notice moments, and express feelings with art.

Media Arts

A boy moves through the flood that has already taken more than it shows. He holds a teddy bear, not as a toy but as proof of comfort, memory, and survival: his last friend. When everything else is unstable, what we hold onto becomes our last anchor.

Painting

Consistently I am greeted by Ozzie and Addi on the bench when I enter school. This slowly crept into my daily routine. This artwork portrays a part of my life that I distorted to challenge the composition and highlights that when we look back on our routines, they are often distorted in our memories.

Sculpture

This installation translates yunseul, fleeting sparkle of light on water, into vertical wooden waves layered with acrylic mirror and aluminum foil. Shifting reflections scatter into thousand small flashes, and invite viewers to slow down, notice subtle changes, and find beauty in moments that pass.

Drawing

This piece was created with colored pencils. It is meant to convey how obsessed young children can become with electronics like iPads or tablets, which can affect their attention span and social skills.

Photography – Best in Show

I wanted to showcase how the male gender has played a role in silencing me, and took a heavy control over who they said I was allowed to be and what I was able to do.

Drawing – Best in Show

This artwork reflects the reality behind cosmetic products humans use for the sake of beauty, and how we choose to deny the costs of certain cosmetic products. The large rabbit represents us, choosing to focus our attention on our own reflection despite being surrounded by products made unethically.

Media Arts

This piece works together with another piece of mine focused on looking at homes in nature. With this work, I inverted this focus to look at nature in the home, which I thought was well encapsulated through the usage of the window as the base for the landscape scene.

Painting

This acrylic painting was inspired by the quiet tension that arises when speaking honestly about feelings, a topic many struggle to share due to the potential risk. The figures sit between movement and restraint, like waves held back mid-crash. The waves become a metaphor for emotions.

Painting

I was inspired to create this painting by how education can feel like survival instead of learning. The books are both the cause and the cure to this feeling, further showing the need to stay afloat when lost in the tides.

Design

I photographed the hand of my classmate that was spray-painted and a skeleton and then used layer masking and appropriated images of bones to create the illusion of being able to see through parts of the hand like an X-ray.

Sculpture

This artwork begins from my need for stability through controlling schedules, body, and relationships. The dodecahedron symbolizes balance and order, while nails mark self-imposed standards. Colored threads represent emotions, goals, and relationships, creating tension through their entanglement and pull.

Drawing

The piece represents what I believe to be American music, that being Black music, since it has consistently been influential world wide throughout the years. Because of the soulful music Black America puts out, and because it is American, Black music is American music.

Painting

I looked at the tension that comes up when I try to meet different, often conflicting expectations. I explored how feeling responsible for others can break up my sense of self and create pressure inside me instead of harmony. Using visual metaphors like repeated figures, I painted myself shattered.

Folk Arts & Crafts – Best in Show

This is a crocheted life-sized anatomical model of a harbor seal. I was inspired to make this piece because of my love of animals and biology, and how crochet can be used to make something “gory” seem more appealing.

Drawing

Tradition states that a woman needs a man to be fulfilled. My visual depicts the opposite. I symbolically portray this by having a little girl hold a frog, electing not to kiss it so that it becomes a prince.

Painting

The theme of this piece is to display the guilt and remorse that comes with excessive desire of another. Through expressive portraits and dull colors, this painting is meant to expose the grim side of desire. I used the technique chiaroscuro to create depth in the portraits and an enlightened feel.

Painting

This work explores human desire that persists in a world no longer fit for survival. The figure hunts not animals but electronic objects, carrying them despite their uselessness. Through this scene, I question why material desire continues even when it no longer serves survival.

Drawing

In this work, I combine Van Gogh’s lined strokes with Degas’s soft blending. Oil pastel strokes shaped the grass and fur, while the blended strokes define the hand. Layered yellows and blue-greens were added to the grass, and cool grey, blue, and purple color the fur to give depth.

Photography

I wanted to create fun and flirty photograph. I made the shoes using sprinkles, cherries, and “pearls” for a cake-like look.

Painting

An allegory is a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. My allegorical portrait is a swan. A creature that is seen as so pure, yet this swan is surrounded by dark water, trying to find the light.

Drawing

This piece reimagines Justicia, a symbol of justice. I aimed to highlight the tension between justice as an aspiration and justice as a lived reality. The blindfold represents both objectivity and willful ignorance. The scales are balanced, reminding that fairness is not static.

Painting

I wanted to convey a feeling of being watched and naked under scrutiny of others. I often feel anxious around people and wanted to express it through the eyes surrounding the skeleton representing feeling of being overwhelmed, and the bare skeleton meaning rawness of it all.

Drawing

In this work, I drew a self-portrait of me in an environment filled with poverty and war (in Palestine/Gaza) in an attempt to sympathize with the men, women, and children living their daily lives searching for food, lacking basic necessities of life, and dying in great numbers.

Drawing

Everyone has made a mistake at least once during adolescence. I want to convey how insignificant a mistake is, despite it seeming important in the moment, and show how missed opportunities can be picked up again, just like real fruits.

Drawing

This artwork captures my grandmother caring for my grandfather in a hospital bed. It highlights devotion through acts of affection and warmth, reflecting how love grows stronger through time and hardship. The piece demonstrates and honors commitment, patience, and strength.

Painting

Me and my friends in Russia. I moved to the United States years ago, and we stayed in touch: We text, call, and see each other when I go back. The red thread around us comes from the idea, prominent in a lot of cultures, that some people are connected no matter what. We are tied together by a red string as soulmates.

Drawing

This pencil piece was my first time working on a frosted drafting film, which was a completely new process for me. I set up a Western-themed still life and really enjoyed experimenting with the textures and learning new skills while creating a realistic composition that felt true to the style and theme.

Drawing

I created this piece to show the love between an owner and his dog, a man and his best friend who grew old together. This piece captures the final moments before one of them says goodbye forever, emphasizing the love shared between the two.

Drawing

This artwork is about the problems of socioeconomic statuses worldwide. Socioeconomic status is where people are categorized based on how much money they earn, causing judgement for struggling or praise for wealth.

Painting

The painting captures the feeling of acceptance after loss by displaying a peaceful connection between my past and present self, depicted lying in a field and looking upward, toward the future. I used acrylic on canvas with gold elements.

Mixed Media

This is a fabric collage of my dog Bear Bear, made from little scraps from previous projects. The process consisted of drawing an outline, and then finding fabric scraps that matched the values of Bear. I love using my dogs as subjects because they have so much personality.

Sculpture

This work was created based on the structural principle of tensegrity, in which isolated components float due to the tension of strings. It was created using 3D modeling software to design the 3D printed frame, then woven with string.

Drawing

I drew this glass pumpkin using colored pencil, layering colors slowly to create shine, reflections, and transparency. I focused on light and shadow to make it look realistic. It was inspired by fall and seasonal decorations. Art matters because it helps us capture beauty in ordinary objects.

Drawing

This piece is about animals becoming extinct because of human-made machines. The butterfly is real, and the metal is human-made: items that may be beautiful but destroy nature.

Design

Inspired by the deep isolation that my person goes into whenever an unexpected angry outburst happens.

Mixed Media

I used to hate telling other people that I was adopted because it made me different from my peers. But by staying quiet, I was slowly ripping a hole in my identity that would not close. I have slowly begun to accept my past; however, this process is slow, and I’ve realized healing is not linear.

Painting

My sister has always been my protector; I subconsciously follow and trust her guidance. Since she left for college, her absence has highlighted our deep bond. This photo’s umbrella symbolizes that connection: a figurative shield showing that, no matter the distance, I will always be her protégé.

Mixed Media

My piece recreates my friend as an ancient sculpture, merging the classical canon with a contemporary gallery space. I first rendered her with colored pencil, then I digitally transposed her into a museum of contrasting images for volume and perspective, emphasizing the figure with chiaroscuro.

Mixed Media – Best in Show

Whenever life crashes me into the ground, it leaves me like a wandering man in the desert. In that unsatisfying scene, I take a moment to deeply dive into myself. During the nakedness, the universe my soul truly belongs to heals my heart, while simultaneously motivating my goal to become stronger.

Painting

This self-portrait represents being a teenage girl in modern society. The name Camouflage comes from changing oneself for others, and the pressure on girls to look a certain way, hiding who they are in the process. The multiple hands represent juggling many things at once to meet others’ expectations.

Sculpture

This ceramic octopus was constructed using a variety of handbuilding techniques. Acrylic paint was used to address the surface. The movement of the tentacles and repetition of the suckers on the tentacles create visual interest in this sculptural work.

Media Arts – Best in Show

Through a simple act of sharing ice cream, they begin to heal from abandonment together. I created a detailed park environment surrounded by greenery, modeling the road, trees, lights, and an ice cream truck from scratch.

Printmaking – Best in Show

My work draws from growing up Indian while living my entire life in Korea. I explore the quiet tension and continuity between cultures through a single braided figure, using traditional symbols and dress to show identity as something layered, inherited, and carried rather than clearly defined.

Painting

Through 4 years of biotech classes, HOSA comps, and research with Dr. Buckel, I’ve faced being underestimated as a woman in STEM. My self-portrait captures this with distortion showing conformity pressures and glassware as fragility despite handling complex work. The truth is I belong regardless.

Sculpture

The Golden Ratio translates φ ≈ 1.618 into form. Each curve follows a self-similar growth where the whole relates to the part as the part relates to the next. Built from branches, the spiral makes proportional logic tangible, turning recursion, limit, and harmony into structure.

Painting

This work explores the unseen labor and emotion behind food creation. This work honors the many hands, memories, and efforts involved, questioning how final products often erase the stories, time, and care that go into making something meaningful.

Drawing

I was inspired by, and wanted to show, the simplistic beauty and practicality of Native American architecture by using scratchboard, which both allowed me to contrast the positive and negative space as well as add an intricate pattern with different mark-making techniques, reflecting Native designs.

Drawing

A variety of colorful items found at a circus or a fun house, reflected on top of a mirror. The arrangement was inspired by the children’s book series ISpy, influencing the viewer to see what they can find among the items.

Drawing

I was exploring a self-portrait about insecurities and how people change themselves for the public eye. Here I am bringing the viewer closer to the subject matter up close. This is to confront how we put on makeup, the discomfort and distortion of pulling one’s face to be aesthetically pleasing.

Painting

This work is inspired by the artistic experience, both the beauty of the final outcome and the attention to detail it takes to get there. The painting is designed to lead the viewer through it using pattern and light, allowing them to take in and appreciate each part of the piece.

Sculpture

My artwork imagines theories that might have been written if Opabinia had been discovered during the Joseon Dynasty. Using mixed materials, the work reconstructs the creature and its environment and explores the relationship between life and environment, viewing extinction as a continuous process of change.

Painting

This work began by observing how prejudice is formed within social structures and passed on to individuals. I created a single world-like composition to show how these ideas repeat across generations, suggesting that systems often shape the way people think more than personal choice.

Drawing

My process on this piece consisted of long periods of shading and blending. Though it was extremely tedious, I find it to be one of my favorite media. This project was inspired by my empathy for everything, whether it be living or not.

Drawing

I challenged myself by using colored pencils, a medium outside my comfort zone. Inspired by South Africa’s landscapes and wildlife, I focused on the giraffe. This work reflects how art goes beyond images, capturing emotion, meaning, and deeper stories.

Drawing

As a teenager, our situation resembles an unlit light bulb. It is small and vulnerable to break easily, yet filled with potential. It symbolizes our hopes for the future. The shimmering lights in the background are our bright futures ahead, reminding us that even in darkness, hope is possible.

Folk Arts & Crafts

My woodburning portrait is of the singer Hueningkai. The process consisted of using a 12-inch-diameter circular piece of wood and burning my desired image before adding watercolor to add more visual appeal.

Mixed Media

In this work, I wanted to capture the past two summers of travel I experienced. I wanted to piece together various works to create a large image of different architectural styles and moods. Creating such a large piece invites the viewer to become part of the travel experience.

Painting

My artwork explores my passion for animals and the natural world they live in. I enjoy painting with watercolors because it’s fun to use the lighter values with the opacity of the media. I create art that is simple and uplifting. I draw inspiration from children’s book illustrations.

Design – Best in Show

I focused on the painful feeling people experience with headaches caused by their anxiety. The person twists their brain pulling on the spine, this shows the extremity anxiety takes on the body. I also used more greens, turquoise, and yellow-orange colors to create this sickly atmosphere.

Painting

Inspired by simple moments in my ordinary life, I chose to capture an important routine of my grandma’s (Lao-Lao). She holds a rosary in her hands, one with a string attached to the rest of the necklace that covers a silver cross, showing her dedication to both prayer and God.

Drawing

This work portrays the feelings of love and happiness by creating a bright and childish background. Using spatial depth and emphasis, cropping and color values have been investigated to express the feeling of love.

Drawing

First I identified noticeable shapes and harsher shadows. From there I focused mainly on adding bold shading and highlights. The Memory Project is what inspired this piece. While it was optional, I feel it demonstrates my skill level and attention to detail regardless of what the artwork is for.

Painting

This piece was inspired by The Death of the Virgin by Caravaggio, with a personal modern twist to it.

Drawing

This is a self-portrait and an intimate artwork that depicts self-love and a quiet connection with myself. In the process of creating it, my goal was to depict a tender yet powerful relationship with oneself, highlighting the contrasting feelings of vulnerability, calm, and confidence.

Media Arts

This artwork is inspired by Emily Dickinson’s infamous poem, “Hope Is the Thing With Feathers.” The rooster resembles hope in the midst of indistinctness.

Mixed Media

Oftentimes it’s hard to understand what someone who is afraid of something may be feeling in the moment. Because of this, I painted this piece to represent the fear of getting lost and how people with this phobia may feel, so others can understand what they go through.