In middle school, Grace Lin was headed down the path of a possible career in robotics. That was a logical expectation given that her parents both had a background in the computer science field.
The stress was on academics. But more and more as high school drew near, Lin found herself spending time on her art and, as she put it, “fiddling with the pencils.” Her freshman year at Beckman High in Irvine coincided with the COVID pandemic and there she was, “floundering” and “without direction.”
The emphasis on robotics gave way to art. Lin, 17, loves comic books and she dived headfirst into Original Character Tournaments that allow artists like Lin to pit their original characters against each other in online battles.
The tournaments unleashed Lin’s creative expression.
“Looking back at the past three years of endless comic making and battling, it almost feels like I’ve never been able to step away,” she wrote in her Artist of the Year application.
One of the characters she created is a gunslinging pyromaniac — her words — from a concept titled “Bullet Hell.” A towering figure drawn with fiery red and yellow tones in her hair, Lin described her digital creation as “completely crazy, almost nothing holding her back morally.”
“Bullet Hell” captured the judges’ attention.
Eric Chimenti, associate professor of graphic design at Chapman University, noticed the character’s charred fingertips. Lin explained: “She’s touched the fire. She’s even crazier because of that.”
Lin sees a bit of herself in the character.
“I want to aspire to be not the pyro, but unafraid to be big and bold and absolutely fiery in my personality.”
Then she added, “I think it’s OK to be selfish once in a while.”
To that end, Lin said her mother is OK with her choice to pursue digital art. Her father and grandfather still want her to consider robotics.
Lin said she was accepted at all the schools she applied to, including Laguna Beach College of Art and Design, ArtCenter College of Design, and California College of the Arts. Finances and distance from home will determine where she’ll attend.
The judges figure Lin’s strong vision, great sense of who she is, and “amazing artwork” may well lead her to set the game and comic book world on fire.
Said Ziying Duan, assistant curator at Orange County Museum of Art: “She is determined to be an artist.”
Media Arts finalists
In addition to Artist of the Year the judges named four finalists from among the 15 semifinalists who submitted work in 2D animation, digital drawing and illustration, game art, photography, and mixed-media video.
Nathan Alexander Ayala, Division 2: Ayala’s digital photography captures moments that many people don’t bother to notice. A lone surfer who, “although she’s alone, I didn’t get the sense she was lonely.” A restaurant worker at the end of his night shift. “He seemed to enjoy taking out the trash because he’s ready to go home.” A local car meet and the people who love those cars. Ayala, 17 and a senior at Villa Park High, started taking photography seriously when he got his first camera in November. Now it’s all he thinks about: “It’s every day.”
Andrew Hsieh, Division 1: Hsieh, 18, has had a camera in his hands since 6th grade. He’s headed for Brown University to major in modern culture and media with plans to be a photographer for the student paper, the Brown Daily Herald. Hsieh shoots sports and other school activities for the campus paper at Fountain Valley High. He also photographs concerts and has shot mesmerizing videos of himself doing fancy card shuffling. One judge called him “the Tom Brady of this group.”
Sarah F. Hu, Division 1: Discovering graphic design on YouTube changed the course of Hu’s career dreams. She had considered various artistic occupations, including crafting, interior design and baking. This while in middle school. Once at Beckman High, she took an elective course in graphic design and discovered a way to create a brand for her other artwork, which she has sold at school functions. Hu is 18 and plans to continue in the art industry. Chapman University graphic design professor Eric Chimenti was impressed by her printmaking: “That was so good.”
Hector Lopez, Division 2: As a photographer, Lopez has the composition skills and he has the heart. Ricky Rivas, the teacher at Anaheim High School who nominated him for Artist of the Year, recalled how Lopez, 17, told him he spends hours exploring north Orange County on a public bus and on foot, finding the everyday — and typically overlooked — subjects and moments that his camera elevates to black and white art. A senior who may be headed to Cypress College to study film and photography, Lopez has only been focusing on photography for about two years.
