2008 Woodie Awards
If it goes on paper, it matters
Dahlia Seroussi
Issue date: 6/9/08 Section: Features
Sarah Arakaki's childhood art teacher, Kioko, told her that "everything you put on paper has to matter."
Arakaki began taking art classes with Kioko, a Japanese-trained art teacher, at the age of 6. Kioko was the first to recognize Arakaki's precocious talent and urged the young artist to pursue a profession in the field. Arakaki remembers her mother thinking it was a cute talent, enough to get her through homework assignments, but not a viable career choice.
Growing up in the Bay Area, Arakaki felt the pressure to discard her dreams of being an artist and focus on a more scientific path. Her sister, who Arakaki describes as also artistically talented, majored in biochemistry.
In high school, Arakaki abandoned art altogether. Lacking an outlet, she described herself as an angry student at Monta Vista High School. But everything changed when Arakaki began Middle College, an alternative high school program at De Anza College, her junior year.
Arakaki's first sculpture class awoke her need to have art in her life. She realized how much she hated desks and how much she'd rather work with her hands. Rediscovering her passion, she thought, "What have I been missing these past four years?"
She also took oil painting with Eugene Rodriguez, whose success as an artist inspired Arakaki to enter the competitive field.
Her parents will support her no matter what, but Arakaki did admit that a potentially penniless future is a concern.
Her parents did not, as Arakaki put it, jump up and down yelling, "Yay! You're going to be poor!"
Arakaki has two pieces currently displayed at De Anza's Euphrat Art Gallery.
One of them is an oil painting titled "Taiko Nikkei," whose subject matter, a drum and drummer, is both culturally and personally significant because Arakaki's parents met at a taiko drum class.
Her other painting is titled "Black Nectar" and depicts the effects of the Nigerian oil industry on the children there. Because companies like Shell and Chevron own the oil industry, Arakaki recognizes the pain in every tank she fills.
Arakaki will pursue a double major in drawing and third world country studies at UC San Diego in the fall. Heeding the words of her first art teacher, she believes that those who have a chance to say something should, and that art can help those in need.
After graduate school, Arakaki hopes to become a conceptual artist for film. She was first inspired by the work of Allen Lee in "Lord of the Rings."
Arakaki forsees a lot of hard work in her future but knows she will not have it any other way. When people ask her, "Why do you have to draw?" she responds, "Why do you have to pee?"
Arakaki began taking art classes with Kioko, a Japanese-trained art teacher, at the age of 6. Kioko was the first to recognize Arakaki's precocious talent and urged the young artist to pursue a profession in the field. Arakaki remembers her mother thinking it was a cute talent, enough to get her through homework assignments, but not a viable career choice.
Growing up in the Bay Area, Arakaki felt the pressure to discard her dreams of being an artist and focus on a more scientific path. Her sister, who Arakaki describes as also artistically talented, majored in biochemistry.
In high school, Arakaki abandoned art altogether. Lacking an outlet, she described herself as an angry student at Monta Vista High School. But everything changed when Arakaki began Middle College, an alternative high school program at De Anza College, her junior year.
Arakaki's first sculpture class awoke her need to have art in her life. She realized how much she hated desks and how much she'd rather work with her hands. Rediscovering her passion, she thought, "What have I been missing these past four years?"
She also took oil painting with Eugene Rodriguez, whose success as an artist inspired Arakaki to enter the competitive field.
Her parents will support her no matter what, but Arakaki did admit that a potentially penniless future is a concern.
Her parents did not, as Arakaki put it, jump up and down yelling, "Yay! You're going to be poor!"
Arakaki has two pieces currently displayed at De Anza's Euphrat Art Gallery.
One of them is an oil painting titled "Taiko Nikkei," whose subject matter, a drum and drummer, is both culturally and personally significant because Arakaki's parents met at a taiko drum class.
Her other painting is titled "Black Nectar" and depicts the effects of the Nigerian oil industry on the children there. Because companies like Shell and Chevron own the oil industry, Arakaki recognizes the pain in every tank she fills.
Arakaki will pursue a double major in drawing and third world country studies at UC San Diego in the fall. Heeding the words of her first art teacher, she believes that those who have a chance to say something should, and that art can help those in need.
After graduate school, Arakaki hopes to become a conceptual artist for film. She was first inspired by the work of Allen Lee in "Lord of the Rings."
Arakaki forsees a lot of hard work in her future but knows she will not have it any other way. When people ask her, "Why do you have to draw?" she responds, "Why do you have to pee?"
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