Senior Chloe You ’25 began drawing when she was five, and art has become one of her favorite hobbies since then. Coming to Casti allowed You to dive deeper.
“At Casti, I feel like there were a lot of opportunities for me to continue pursuing that interest,” You said. “I remember the middle school art classes were really well-designed in that it taught about the fundamentals, [as well as] different types of art.”
You also took art classes in high school. Now, as an AT art student, she has her own decorated nook in the art studio, providing her a comfortable environment for artistic expression.
Art comes in many different forms. For You, it can look like doodles during class—or oftentimes, a powerful way of expression for storytelling or spreading a message. Art calms You down and allows her to feel relaxed.
The beautiful aspect of art is that the artist almost always has agency over the entire piece. You experiments with different mediums based on her mood and chooses her inspiration based on her childhood memories or camera roll.
“I like to scroll through my camera roll and see if there’s anything that looks interesting, or moments in my life that might be interesting to draw,” You said. “I also like to draw my memories as a kid, because I lived in China for around seven years.”
Transition to life in the United States was a big cultural shift, You says.
“Academics are definitely a lot more rigorous back in China, even in elementary school. And then the language barrier was a big issue,” You said.
Yet, You quickly made friends that shared similar experiences of moving from China to the U.S. She says she was able to bond with them over those memories, which made the transition easier.
In regard to her paintings about memories from growing up in China, You uses color and composition to convey emotion. An example of this is her use of color scheme in her recent painting to convey nostalgia.
Chloe You’s proudest work in which she invokes nostalgia through the color palate.
You says that this was her proudest piece of work.
“It took a really long time, and it was definitely a step out of my comfort zone because I’m not used to working in acrylics at that height,” You said. “It was such a huge canvas, and it was pretty daunting to start it at first. But after I finished it, it was really rewarding to see it on the wall.”
You has also been able to develop her confidence over time.
“When I first came here—and partially due to the language barrier I had—I was not confident in speaking up in class or communicating with my teachers,” You said. “I kept my friend group pretty close to me. Over the years at Casti, I’ve definitely been able to grow, in the way that I’ve been able to become more outgoing during class, speaking up more and having the confidence to answer questions and communicate with teachers.”
As You approaches college, her confidence and the outlet she’s found through art will lead her far.
