Page 36 - Solstice Art & Literary Magazine 2021

MARIA
JIAO
ARTIST PROFILE
I was drawn towards art (no pun in- tended) starting from a young age, as it allowed me to explore the unknown. Creativity came easy to the five-year-old me grasping a crayon for the first time, and as I grew older and became more aware of the harsh borderline between fantasy and reality, art served as a bridge for me, combining both. My art now contains an outline of the world we live in but also a splash of imagination. My preferred style of art is sketch, and I love experimenting with pencils and char- coals, not to mention blending stumps.
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SELF PORTRAIT • MARIA JIAO
Colored Pencil • 16.5”x13.5” • Scholastic Art & Writing Awards: Silver Key