MUKILTEO — Mackenzie Colby, a senior at Kamiak High School, paints, sculpts and, more recently, started creating works of fashion and conceptual art.
A robe she made from egg cartons won a 2016 Scholastic Art Award from Everett’s Schack Art Center. The work explores the theme of protection and expresses some of the 17-year-old’s feelings as she prepares to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) next fall.
Mackenzie’s choice to pursue her creative passion, rather than a more traditional field, created some initial apprehension for her family. She sees the art schools of today as pathways to skilled, creative professions.
Question: Have you always been interested in art?
Answer: Yeah, I have. Most of the art supplies I have are accumulated from years and years and years of just trying different things … making little bracelets or little pictures, stuff like that.
Q: Tell me about the egg-carton robe.
A: It’s called “Can You Love Me a Little Less?” My parents are very loving and I’m very well supported here. I don’t really have that much experience outside of Mukilteo. While I was making it, I thought about the protection and how I need to wean off of it.
It’s part of a four-piece set. The others explore dreaming, fear and opinions. All of them could be considered interactive sculpture.
Q: What artistic medium do you prefer?
A: I like painting the most just because it’s very calming. Recently I’ve been going more toward sculpture, but not traditional sculpture. Nontraditional sculpture is a new form of modern art where you use found materials or nontraditional materials to create your sculpture. They can have an interactive relationship with the artist or viewer. They’re often found as installation works.
Q: What are your biggest influences?
A: I like Henri Matisse. I like Gustav Klimt, Alexandra Levasseur and Vasily Kandinsky.
Q: What’s your typical school day like?
A: I tend to wake up as late as I can. I get dressed and get ready and eat as I’m running out the door. I drive my brother to school. (Benjamin, 14, is a Kamiak freshman.)
Q: What classes are you taking?
A: AP English, AP European History, Woodshop, AP Calculus, Stagecraft and AP Studio Art. I’m also the co-president of our National Art Honor Society. It’s kind of like the artistic branch of the National Honor Society. We designed the decorations for the homecoming dance last fall and we’re going to help design the decorations for prom. I’m also co-president of the Spanish Club.
I’m a tech for musicals and plays. I’m also in stagecraft class, so I’m building sets. I was doing golf and before that soccer, but I knew I wanted to do more artistic things.
Q: Woodshop? That’s interesting.
A: I chose that class because I wanted to expand my creativity into wood. Having that knowledge of all the different machinery is really helpful. When I go to college. I won’t have to be dependent on other people to make things.
Q: What kinds of recognition have you received?
A: The Scholastic Art Awards through the Schack Art Center. “Can You Love Me a Little Less?” was displayed at the Schack in February and is being judged in New York now as a nominee for an American Visions Award. When I got accepted into the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, I received a presidential scholarship (the school’s highest merit scholarship).
Q: How has your family helped you pursue your dreams?
A: My parents and the rest of my family have been super supportive. At first, they were pretty apprehensive, I guess. They were like, “Are you sure you don’t want to do orthodontics or become a doctor or something? There’s an art in that, too.” And I’m like, “No.” Because they aren’t artistic, they were confused about the whole art-school thing compared to going to a university. My brother plays the viola. That’s about it.
Q: Was it difficult to make the case for art school?
A: It was at first. My grandparents were like, “What? You’re going to do basket-weaving and silly things like that?” But art school now, it’s not just painting and sculpture. It’s graphic design, it’s interior design, architecture, product design … so many different things. It’s not just fine arts anymore; it’s really a marketable skill. That’s really exciting. You can harness your creativity, but you can use it in the real world instead of just being an artist, which is really scary to people, because it’s pretty unstable.
Q: What advice would you give to others who are making decisions about their future?
A: Don’t be afraid of pursuing that thing that you want to do because there are only so many people who end up doing that big dream thing. And it could be you. I want to be an artist, which is kind of scary. But if you have faith in yourself, you’ll find a way and you can get it done. But that’s coming from a 17-year-old.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
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