Spotlight on Artist Avery Jacobson

Welcome to The Elective’s digital art museum, dedicated to the incredible work of AP Arts students. Each week we highlight a work or series created in one of the AP Arts concentrations—AP 2-D Art and Design, 3-D Art and Design, and AP Drawing (the AP Program also offers Art History and Music Theory)—as well as a statement from the artist (and, occasionally, their teacher).

In the past, we’ve spotlighted artists who had their work included in AP Art online exhibitions. But starting this week, we’re doing something a bit different. While the AP Art team finalizes the next presentation, The Elective will share some of the most engaging pieces created by AP Art students this year—because the art is as urgent as our times.

From the first cave paintings to contemporary breakthroughs in virtually reality, art, in all its forms, has been a crucial way for people to process, make sense of, comment on, and grapple with the world around them. In 2020, there is a lot to process and grapple with—and AP Art students have risen to the challenge. The work many of them submitted in their final portfolios is explicitly of the moment, from commentary on the covid-19 pandemic to the celebration of people of color to the nature of heroism in perilous times.

The work is often challenging and provocative but always insightful, inspiring, and expansive.

This week, we feature a Prismacolor pencil drawing on tagboard paper made by Avery Jacobson from Brighton High School in Brighton, Colorado.

Here’s Avery’s statement on the work:

"The main idea of my sustained investigation surrounds the question: 'What visuals would capture and narrate iconic Beatles songs?' I listened closely to interpret the intricacies and artistic ideas of the abundant variety of songs. This piece was inspired by 'I Want to Hold Your Hand.'

"The work was challenging at times because some songs are very clear while others need a more in-depth analyzation. If the song was more straightforward, I tried to add an additional layer of interpretation to challenge myself and the viewer. As I listened to songs with no identifiable subject, I practiced finding emotions so I could create the visual in my head, then experimented with finding the emotional story that would aid the song best. I would also interpret songs through the intensity of the music by associating the feelings with specific colors and textures. These interpretations almost always included revisions because my ideas would often change with each listen.

"This investigation allowed me to visualize and add dimension to a preexisting art form. The art of music allowed for an endless amount of interpretation while still providing guidance."

Here are a few other pieces from Avery’s portfolio submission:

Student statements are lightly edited for clarity.