Surmount

This oil painting is for all of my fellow graduates in the class of 2025, and for every student in the future who will inevitably leave the nest and start carving their own path. Just as how leaving a place of stability requires bravery and risk-taking, this piece wouldn’t have been possible without the challenge that I gave to myself at the beginning of the process: 1. painting a self portrait and 2. painting with oil, a medium that I was much less familiar with. The task was beyond daunting, but as I painted and found new ways to embed meaning into the piece, very gradually, I felt more free in my brushstrokes and more prepared to graduate from my school. 

 

As a tradition, high school seniors move their tassels from right to left to represent their transition from student to graduate. Similarly, in the painting, the golden tassel hangs down the right side of the cap while a pink silhouette on the left hints at the hazy yet definite possibility of tomorrow. 

 

The girl, or perhaps the woman, in the portrait grasps the leather strap that holds her new-found wings in place. With a slight smile, she gazes into a space beyond the picture, feeling apprehensive yet hopeful of the future. 

 

For all of us have surmounted what we judged to be impossible.