Summer 2023 M-TAC Gallery

TeenTix works in collaboration with The Colorization Collective, a teen-led organization which promotes diversity in the arts, to present the M-TAC program.

The Spring 2023 M-TAC Cohort focused on visual art, performing art, and writing. The visual art cohorts were taught by mentors Ric'Kisha Taylor, Lila Thomas, and Perri Rhoden. Mentor Isip Xin lead the virtual design cohort.

The performance cohort was taught by mentor, UJ Mangune and mentor Lila Bonow taught the writing cohort. You can read their work and view their performances here!

This was the first year M-TAC was able to offer both in person and virtual cohorts!

Visual Art Cohort Lead by mentor Ric'Kisha Taylor

Sophie Lee

Sophie Lee is a charcoal and clay artist based in Essex, England who primarily creates large scale drawings featuring expressive fluid mark making alongside fine details which often create the base ideas for her clay sculptures. Her work is inspired by forms of movement in the natural world, and she is passionate about using her creative skills to spark conversation about climate issues, encouraging others to do the same through her recent involvement in a local climate themed exhibition and her leadership in workshops where she teaches others to create sustainable art. She has also been featured in the national Wingbeat magazine published by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds aimed at young people, in an article titled ‘Nature drawing tips’, and is featured on the Royal Society of Biology’s website for her work created as part of the 2021 Nancy Rothwell scientific drawing awards.

Hania Zubair Elahi

Hania Zubair Elahi is an aspiring architect, and visual artist who has been into art for as long as she can remember. She took Visual Arts as one of her HL subjects in the IB Diploma Programme along with Mathematics and Physics. She currently resides in Lahore, Pakistan, and is on her gap year. Her art revolves around her passion for architecture, the nature surrounding her and what she feels is important for the audience to see. Hence, she is deeply influenced by Claude Monets work, and it is often shown in her work. She was a part of the Teentix x Colorization Collective Mentorship that empowers artists of color globally and had her work exhibited in Seattle by the end of the mentorship. She also won 3rd place in the 14th Beaconhouse Young Canvas Art Competition, held in 2022. Outside the art world, she is a great swimmer who enjoys playing badminton and volleyball.

Penelope Ubau and Rebecca Huaman were also in this cohort

Visual Art Cohort Lead by mentor Perri Rhoden

Perri Rhoden was born in Tacoma and raised in Seattle, WA. She began studying art at Howard University in the District of Columbia. During that time she fell in love with figurative painting and celebrating her identity as Black Woman on canvas. Since then her style has continued to evolve and she is now experimenting with various mixed mediums on canvas, wood, and plexi-glass.

Currently, she is emerging in the public art sector as a muralist, further developing her business, and is a mentor for our current Mentorship Program!

Perri has both permanent and temporary art installations in Ballard, Downtown Seattle, and the Central District. More information about these projects, and her portfolio of work, is detailed on her website www.perrirhoden.com.

Instagram handle: @perri rhoden

Ayah Al-Masyabi

Ayah Al-Masyabi is Girls Write Now mentee and is a Colorado-based writer and artist. Ayah has been drawing since she could hold a pencil. Since, as a dyslexic person, art has always been a way to express herself. Ayah’s passion for art transformed into a passion for storytelling, which pushed her to start writing both nonfiction and fiction to communicate her ideas. Her art aims to tell stories of complex emotions that the viewer can feel, not just see, by making art that is not confined to realism. Ayah was a 2023 NPR Student Podcast Challenge finalist, which got her podcast to be featured on NPR and Men In Blazers. Her writing was awarded a gold key in the Scholastic Art & Writing Contest in the critical essay category. She also received a gold key for painting and an honorable mention for illustration. She covered the 2023 Women’s World Cup for YR Media. Her short story was published in the 2023 Girls Write Now anthology, “On the Other Side of Everything.”

Isabella Calonge

Isabella Calonge Hello I'm Issa :) i mix around with all different forms of art mediums. From painting, detailed sketches, and mixing digital with my traditional art. I've had a love for nature, specifically clouds and flowers, ever since I was little so I love incorporating floral designs into my art along with sunset paintings. My art represents the beauty of nature and how we as people are connected to it. I'm currently working on a color series called "Our Colors". This series represents my own interpretation of colors as people along with flowers that correspond with each color. You can see the continuation of my series and more of my art on Instagram @_issa._.arts_

Marilyn Garcia

Marilyn Garcia Hello, my name is Marilyn Garcia and I’m an artist based in California. I am a teen Guatemalan artist who makes works based on personal experiences/struggles as well as injustices in our world. Others can see my work and connect with me by finding out about my experiences through a piece or even find something that they themselves can relate to or have heard of. I started my art journey early by enrolling into an art elementary school. After attending a non art middle school I enrolled into the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA), the number one art high school in the nation which I am currently enrolled into as a sophmore. I’ve participated in a mentorship program called the Colorization Collective as well as have taught others on basic art ideas.

Jwan Magsoosi

Jwan Magsoosi can’t decide on one art form, and she thinks It’s a tragically beautiful thing to be a multimedia artist. You can find her oil painting, exploring architectural designs, and mindlessly sketching in her free time. Most of her work is inspired by her middle eastern roots and heritage. She likes to explore themes of immigration and culture in her work. She currently resides in Federal Way, Washington, where she likes to take inspiration from the hustle bustle of nature around her. She has gone through programs such as the Art 4 Life Mentorship and the AIGA link art program, and there she learned that art is life and how you choose to reflect it.

Erick Buendia

Erick Buendia crafts paintings and movies in his hometown of DC. He creates pieces that depict surrealism and horror with humor. He attends Wesleyan University and has had his art published in several literary journals. He was the recipient of the Doodle4Google DC award in 2022 and the silver key for Scholastics Art Competition 2022. He was a part of the Colorization Collective and Smithsonian Hirshorn TAC Collective. You can find more of his art on Instagram @buendia_draws.

Jasmine Sykes

Jasmine Sykes is a multimedia artist based in Queens, New York. Though she favors making pieces with acrylic paint and gouache, she continues to experiment with various mediums like printmaking, inkwork, sculptures, or even just pencil on paper. She finds the most joy in creating pieces that can be described as “aesthetically pleasing” or “easy on the eyes”. Furthermore, most of her works are inspired by the experiences and thoughts associated with being a bi-racial woman of color living in the 21st century. Her goal is to uplift the voices of women in the BIPOC community, who have had their mental and physical struggles neglected and silenced for too long. Jasmine's goal is to break this cycle by building solidarity among women of color and providing comfort in knowing that they are not alone by sharing her own experiences. In terms of accolades, Jasmine has worked with Groundswell to make a large-scale mural for her high school and later on worked with her peers as the head set designer in creating the first post-covid, student-led play in the school as well. She has spent her summer engaged in multiple art programs, including a Pixar storytelling course and the Colorization Collective’s Summer MTAC program. As she approaches her senior year in high school, she is starting to turn her focus more towards building an art portfolio that will hopefully get her into her dream art school and kickstart her journey in the art industry.

Saaliha Azam was also in this cohort.

Digital Art Cohort Lead by mentor Isip Xin

Naomi Lee

Naomi Lee is a Korean-American artist who digitally creates semi-realism art of humanoid characters, conveying deep stories and meanings through her creations. She has studied under Isip Xin and has attended multiple art programs throughout her life. Naomi Lee is also adept in video editing and inbetweening, occasionally creating short animations that she posts on YouTube @Ghostique 꽃. The 14-year-old artist currently resides in Washington state.

Samanvita Cheemalapati

Samanvita Cheemalapati Hello, my name is Sam and I go by sammyc_prods on TikTok and Instagram. I am a digital connoisseur as I specialize in digital art, motion graphics, and 3D modeling + sculpting. In this piece, this is part of a series called the women of astrology as I create characters that are represented by each archetype of the zodiac!

This is Lila and she is represented by the zodiac sign Libra as seen in her ears and the words on the side of her. Lila is very balanced and can sometimes be passive aggressive but also just very diplomatic! I used procreate to create this piece using a mixture of line art with some painting elements. This will be a series I continue so please follow me to see what I create!

Olaitan Fadahunsi

Olaitan Fadahunsi Hello, my name is Olaitan Fadahunsi. I'm currently a sophomore in high school. I'm 15 years old. My current hobbies are creating/designing art, dancing, reading online, and active workouts! My likes are binge watching tv shows, eating, and having company.

I am a digital/traditional artist in the art field, and my work is often based on a caricature style and feel to it. The tones I use in my art are often vibrant and bright colors to make a wonderful picture to it. My characters look filled with expression to create an emotional appeal to it. My softwares I use to draw on is on my phone on the app ibis paint X and on procreate.

I am currently still learning the process to design and draw as well. It all started back in quarantine, I was inspired by many artists on Pinterest, Instagram, and on YouTube. I just absolutely loved their art styles and wanted to get to create and start my own art style. I felt the need to put more work and dedication into my art, which grew and grew and I started to improve more overtime.

I'm still on my journey to get better and grow in the process. Most of my pieces, you know, are inspired by TV shows, Movies, webtoons, DTIYS (Draw this in your styles), or just other people's sort of style in a way. It makes me love what I do. I add more creativity to my pieces day by day and I'm so glad about what I'm doing right now. I also wish to improve along the way as well. Thank you!

Sally Hoy

Sally Hoy is a Seattle based Chinese American Artist/ Designer who specializes in narrative illustration centered around pop culture. She works in both traditional and digital media, currently exploring graphic novel design. She uses the internet as her main inspiration, pulling references from popular media and forming unique ways of storytelling. Her work consists of a mix of parodies and original pieces relating to life of the current day and age.

Artist Statement

My art likes to be fun and fantastical, creating worlds that form from the internet, with references to memes, famous icons and much more random wacky stuff that’s unexpected. I create what is around me. I grew up in the age of the internet which influenced me to see the world through rainbow lenses and to communicate my thoughts into stories entertaining and educating other people. I am always open to new ideas which fuel my imagination with fun and joy. The world we live in is big and beautiful and should be shared with everyone.

Ayanami Hernandez

Ayanami Hernandez I am a passionate artist who aims to improve from one artwork to the next, I put in all my effort and hard work into my work. I push to the end to someday work to be an inspiring artist and writer that many will look up to. I am kind and shy but can work for hours, I am still improving so some of my work may change suddenly. I am practicing new things with my style, both in my art and writing, to get my work into the light and be recognized as a hard worker. I love anime yes, it's what inspires me each and every day never to give up. I love drawing dragons, Kaiju's, characters, animals, and somewhat people if you can say. I hope to bring my stories from my art and writing to life to inspire others like myself who are struggling to make their headway in the world. I just simply enjoy drawing, writing, and making people smile.

Xyu

Xyu California based artist, Xyu, is a first generation Filipino-American lesbian who uses they/he pronouns. Their pieces consist of digital artworks conveying anecdotes which are inspired by Rococo paintings and artists like Loish. Xyu is currently studying under Isip Xin, a digital illustrator and tattoo artist. In his junior year of high school, they participated in the AP 2D-Studio Art program and received a 5 for their portfolio. Lastly, he posts their work on his instagram @chyusai and their TikTok page of the same username.

Anaya Johnson

Anaya Johnson My name is Anaya Johnson and I’m a high school junior from Bronx, New York. I am self-taught, and I use digital art and original characters to express deep emotions that lack wording. I enjoy drawing pieces with the thought of surrealness and existence.

In Person Visual Art Cohort Lead by mentor Lila Thomas

Michelle Li

Michelle Li currently attends Bothell High School. Through the medium of oil paint, Michelle's creative journey is characterized by a deep appreciation for portraiture and a unique fusion of classical and contemporary influences.

Her passion for portraying the intricate emotions of her family and friends is evident. With a focus on capturing both the physical features and emotional connections of her subjects, Michelle's portraits go beyond the surface, inviting viewers into her rich narratives.

Drawing inspiration from the Renaissance and Romantic periods, Michelle adds her own modern interpretation to classical works. This skillful blend of old and new results in pieces that resonate with familiarity.

Michelle's commitment to artistic growth is unwavering, driven by her exploration of art history and her dedication to pushing creative boundaries. As her artistic journey continues to evolve, Michelle's work makes meaningful impacts by bridging the past and present, inviting us all to appreciate the enduring beauty of human expression.

Noor Nagi

Noor Nagi has never once had a boring dream.

Given, among the ones she’s understood. Noor is a firm believer that she can see things that other people don’t. She uses oil pastels to capture the vividly colored pictures her mind displays in front of her. She deeply enjoys employing the usage of texture to allow her art to be more interactive with viewers. She thinks that the most meaningful pieces of art are those that you have to take a while to understand. When it comes to her work, she likes to keep the messages loose, daring, and ultimately subjective. Growing up with a loving family in a culturally rich community, she’s no stranger to bright colors and radically diverse backgrounds. She hopes to bring a piece of herself into each one of her pieces.

In this work, Noor captures an unusual moment within one of her dreams. A curiously placed woman is dining in the sky! Unfortunately, she’s not alone and finds herself feasting with some unsavory company

Bao-Vy Tran and Pheonix Gonzalez-Salas were also in this cohort.