A New Lens

Artist: Julia Bissell
Writer: Lucas Kishore
Editor: Nathan Turnbeaugh

Julia Bissell, a junior, created a self-portrait, “A New Lens,” as a challenge in her Studio Art class. Using acrylic paint for this portrait, she played around with the different colors, enjoying herself. With this painting, she tried her best to represent how she sees things differently since she can see colors that she couldn’t before, hence the name “A New Lens”. Through her pose, Julia demonstrates how this newfound sense allows her to realize she should step back and take in life rather than control the outcomes of life as she looks into the light in her painting. A challenge she faced while painting this portrait was that she was too “zoomed in” physically. Meaning when he looked at the canvas from afar, she realized it didn’t look much like her. Unintentionally, this portrait takes on a different expression when you zoom in, showing more of Julia’s intent, as the face looks more warm and inquisitive. This mistake seems to represent her, as while she might appear somber when silent, she is simply content.