For senior Angelina Lu (‘26), art is more than just something visual, it’s a way to process personal experiences and reflect on how they shape her identity. This year, her work was recognized at the national level in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, where she received a silver medal, placing her among a small percentage of student artists across the country.
Lu’s award-winning piece, Introspection, is a colored pencil self-portrait that explores her long-term experience with eczema and how it has affected both her daily life and self-image. While the drawing itself is detailed and realistic, the meaning behind it is rooted in something deeper.
“It was a realistic portrait of myself,” Lu said. ”My hands are positioned… they’re touching my face, and I’m just kind of looking away.” This positioning creates a quiet, almost tense moment in the piece, emphasizing reflection rather than confidence.
The title Introspection directly connects to that idea. As Lu described it, it means “reflecting on yourself… like your self-esteem and stuff,” highlighting the internal focus of the artwork rather than just the physical image.
Even though the portrait shows her with clear skin, Lu intentionally contrasts that with the mindset she developed during more difficult periods of her life. “Even in the piece, my skin is fine… but I still overanalyze,” she said. “I still carry the same habits of just always caring about my periods or worrying about how my skin looks.”
This tension between appearance and mindset is central to the piece. Instead of showing the struggle in an obvious, physical way, Lu focuses on how those experiences stay with her mentally. “I look at every single detail like how it was when my skin was bad,” she explained, emphasizing how those habits didn’t disappear even as her skin improved.
Her work is part of a larger AP art portfolio that builds on this idea over time. “My whole portfolio was surrounded by how my skin condition affects my daily life,” Lu said. “It was kind of built throughout the years, from childhood to now.” By structuring her portfolio this way, she was able to show not just a single moment, but an ongoing personal journey.
Lu’s inspiration comes directly from those lived experiences and the emotions connected to them. “I think what inspires my art the most is my personal experiences and kind of the emotions that I feel during them,” she said. She explained that when she started planning her portfolio, the decision to focus on this topic felt natural. “It was something I really struggled with and those emotions were still fresh.”
Because of that, her work carries a sense of honesty that makes it more impactful. Rather than creating something distant or purely aesthetic, Lu uses her art to reflect something real and personal. Although she does not plan to pursue art in college, her work has already made a lasting impression.
Through Introspection, Lu not only demonstrates technical skill, but shows how art can be used as a form of self-reflection. By focusing on the mental and emotional effects of her experiences, she invites viewers to look beyond surface appearances and consider how personal struggles can shape the way someone sees themselves, even long after those struggles seem to have passed.
