A pencil moves across the page, turning a blank space into something new. For senior Keira Lam, creating has always been a way to explore ideas, express herself and connect with the people around her. Over the years, her artistic style has continued to evolve, taking her from the graphite, ink and markers she grew up using to paint, which she now considers her favorite creative medium.
Lam’s relationship with painting began unexpectedly last summer when she attended the California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA). After being accidentally placed into a painting program, Lam was pushed to study a medium she had only experimented with casually. This moment was a turning point, and painting has since become her favorite way to create.
Lam’s willingness to explore new creative styles is an important part of her development as an artist. Arnor Bieltvedt, K–12 Chair of the Visual Arts Department and a teacher who has known Lam since eighth grade, acknowledged this growth: “She realizes the importance of trying out many different media and techniques in order to better understand her capabilities and talents as an artist.”
This growth mindset has empowered Lam to venture outside of her creative comfort zone. Earlier in high school, she mainly focused on making her artwork aesthetically pleasing and as close to perfect as possible. Now, she said, “I think I’ve just learned to loosen up and be less afraid of making something weird or imperfect.”
Bieltvedt praised Lam’s strengths in drawing and painting, along with her strong sense of color and composition. Her fruit painting series from AP Art and Design: Drawing class last year stood out to him as an example of this process, particularly because of how thoughtfully she developed and executed the work and how it reflected her own artistic vision.
The series started with Lam’s love of fruit, which she associates with her halmeoni (Korean for “grandmother”), who would peel and cut fruit for her and her sisters since childhood. From there, Lam began experimenting with different ways to portray fruit and the memories she associated with it. She turned fruit into diamonds, played with sharp geometric shapes and zoomed in on pieces of fruit to immerse the viewer in the scene. Kiwis reminded her of her mom, who used to call her “kiwi,” while another piece was inspired simply by the feeling of eating grapes.
“I kind of just wanted to have fun with it,” Lam said. “Fruit makes me happy.”
For Lam, art has never been solely about developing her technical skills. It has also been a way for her to connect with her peers. “I remember when I first came to Poly in fifth grade; I was really shy and didn’t know how to make friends, so I started drawing things for people,” she said. Specifically, Lam created personalized name cards for her peers. During the pandemic, she and many other students continued sharing art by creating customized birthday cards for classmates.
Lam has continued producing art for the Poly community through her new role as the ASB Artist-in-Residence. She creates the ASB T-shirts and promotional drawings, and in doing so further cements herself as an art provider at heart.
Lam still enjoys making cards and artwork for teachers and friends as a way to show appreciation. For sophomore Angie Holleman, that ability to communicate through art extends beyond just a physical gift.
“I love Keira’s art because of the way it makes me feel. Every time you look at Keira’s art, you can observe a combination of colors, shapes and blending, and just a general technique that just makes me feel like I’m a part of a different world,” Holleman remarked.
As Lam looks toward life after high school, she remains uncertain about exactly where art will lead her. “I don’t think I’ll end up attending art school or becoming a full-time artist, but I have no doubt that whatever I end up doing, there will always be a creative aspect to my life,” Lam said.
After taking a Latin American Art History course through the UCLA Extension program last summer, she is particularly interested in studying art history in college. Lam will also intern at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) this year, allowing her to explore curation and museum work further.
For Bieltvedt, Lam’s future is supported by years of work and exploration. He said, “For years she has been building a strong foundation and groundwork for continuous progress in art. I believe all that hard work and creative insight she has gained on the way will pay off in many ways in the future.”
After a childhood of turning ordinary assignments and ideas into opportunities for creativity, Lam is approaching her future with the same openness that shaped her artistic growth: experimenting, creating and seeing where each new experience takes her.
