Photo courtesy senior Maggie Zuniga
San Luis Obispo high school is filled to the brim with talented artists of every medium and discipline. As part of an on-going series, Expressions puts the spotlight on senior Maggie Zuniga, one of SLOHS’s many multi-talented individuals as she discusses her art and how it’s influenced her other talents.
Expressions: How long have you been interested in art? What got you into it?
Senior Maggie Zuniga: I got into art when I was really young because my dad is a graphic designer. I grew up drawing and designed everything, so I have kind of always had a foot in that door. It started with using Photoshop to design my own valentines for my class but progressed into me drawing them myself.
Expressions: What mediums do you like the most? Why?
Zuniga: I use a lot of digital art programs like Procreate. I come from divorced parents and when moving back and forth it’s way easier to have one tablet and pen than a whole barrage of materials. However I also love using physical art mediums as well: I enjoy watercolor, graphite, markers, colored pencils—basically anything.
Expressions: Do you plan to pursue art in the future? If so, how?
Zuniga: I actually am hoping to pursue a different kind of art, theatre direction. Though I have realized how much my experience in art will actually help me in my theatrical career, I’ll be able to sketch costume ideas, set designs, and color palettes for shows myself. I also really want to learn to incorporate both mediums—studio arts and theatre—into one.
Expressions: What’s one of your favorite pieces you’ve done and why?
Zuniga: In general I enjoy drawing portraits more than anything else. Faces are so interesting to me so I like to study them. One of my favorite pieces I’ve done is a relatively recent portrait. I decided to use people that I know from media to try and conceptualize what I imagine Greek gods and deities to look like. In this case, I decided to try a new, more realistic, and more texturized style and attempted to draw my version of Hyperion, God of light. I like this piece a lot because I think I’ve improved a lot in my styles and this is a pretty good example of how I’m hoping to proceed. Also, I adore Greek Mythology, so it’s combining a few of my interests.
Expressions: Why do you like art? What draws you to it?
Zuniga: I honestly have always been drawn to art in some way shape or form, so it’s very hard for me to pinpoint one reason. I think the main one is just the fact that it’s hard to be wrong in art; everything is open for interpretation and there’s no right or wrong. I’m a person who likes to interpret the world in ways that aren’t usual, and art allows me to do that; in fact, it encourages me to.
