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Health & Fitness

Windward Students Collaborate With Local Artist

This year, The Installation Project gave Windward students the unique opportunity to collaborate with local artist Meeson Pae Yang.

This month, visitors to Windward School’s Held & Bordy Family Gallery have encountered a most unusual sight - dozens of intricately carved clear plastic shapes and bundles of transparent tubing, all dangling from wires so thin that each object seems to float in mid-air. The fascinating scene is the current incarnation of The Installation Project at Windward, a presentation of the school’s annual artist-in-residence program. Though the exhibit is clearly influenced by the guidance of this year’s guest artist, Los Angeles-based Meeson Pae Yang, it was also co-conceived, constructed, and installed by Windward students. The collaborative process that leads up to the finished exhibit is what makes The Installation Project at Windward such a compelling learning opportunity, both for Windward’s students and the professional artist.

This is the third year that Windward has invited a local artist to participate in The Installation Project. According to Jeff Miller, the Chair of Windward’s Visual and Media Arts Department, the number of artists applying to take part has grown significantly each time; more than 60 applications were received this year. Selecting the right candidate was no easy task; consideration was given not only to each artist’s visual aesthetic, but also to how successful they might be working in a collaborative setting with secondary school students. Meeson Pae Yang stood out in both respects. As Miller recalls, “We felt that her work was contemporary and interesting.  Just as important, she was very personable, and we knew that she’d work really well with our students.”

Thirteen Windward students participated in the project, each contributing their knowledge of different visual arts disciplines, from graphic design to painting to sculpture. Yang was adamant about starting with a blank slate, wanting everyone to feel uninhibited in contributing their ideas. Much of her own body of work concerns the exploration of natural systems, which she then re-represents using synthetic materials. So as ideas for the installation began to take form, Yang led the group in discussions about the interplay between nature and culture and the corresponding construction of environments. Bouncing ideas off each other, students began exploring intricate patterns which they drew on clear film. The transparencies then formed templates from which elaborate plastic objects were created.

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For the student participants, sharing insights about the preparation required to develop a show of this type was illuminating. As sophomore Stephanie G. recalls, “I learned that even a complex art installation starts out as a simple drawing. [Yang] taught me that creating an installation involves many steps and requires time and patience. She also taught me that art overlaps with other subjects, such as math and science, and can be found in just about everything.”

Yang is no stranger to a classroom setting, having taught several short-term residencies within the LAUSD. She is also a recipient of numerous awards who has shown her work both nationally and internationally. Locally, her works have been exhibited at many public venues, including the Torrance Art Museum and Los Angeles International Airport. This blend of experiences attracted her to the challenge of creating an installation from scratch in collaboration with young artists. Says Yang, “The teaching and collaboration component of Windward’s project was a natural fit for me. In approaching the installation, I didn’t just want to be an artist who did her own thing, but instead I really wanted to work with students during the entire process. I shared what I knew and also ended up learning a lot from the students as well, from the ideas they contributed during the brainstorming process all the way through to the end concept.”

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The finished site-specific installation, with fabricated acrylic objects and transparent tubing suspended by nearly invisible wire from the ceiling of the gallery, represents the culmination of the group’s work. In the spirit of The Installation Project, students learned how to generate ideas, how to make them come to life, and how to collaborate creatively with respect for others. For many, participation in the project encouraged further exploration of the medium. As Stephanie says, “Since working on this installation, I have been inspired to create art pieces on a larger scale and make kinetic art. I would definitely like to explore installation work more as I enjoyed the process and the creativity needed to make such a beautiful work of art.”

The opportunity to work in tandem with the guest artist was key, and participants uniformly voiced appreciation for Yang’s nurturing guidance and support. Sophomore Sarah T. notes that, “I was absolutely amazed that she expressed her feelings through her art, and from there, her artistic abilities flourished as she got more interested in it...I was truly touched by hearing her stories, and it motivated me to create more art on my own.”

Now, having learned how to mount an art installation from a working professional, Windward’s young artists have the tools to one day open an exhibition of their own solo work. And perhaps, like Yang, they will choose to share their experience, encouraging others to develop the courage and the know how to showcase their creative ideas with passion.

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Further details about Yang’s body of work can be found on her website, www.meesonpaeyang.com.

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