For as long as they can remember, Ally Lee (12) has used art to express different aspects of their life. From creating intricate digital pieces to tutoring young girls in art to working with a college professor to merge art and artificial intelligence (AI), Ally uses art to branch out into different fields and explore often overlooked avenues for the future.

“Being able to put your thoughts and feelings into something physical that other people can see and also relate to is amazing,” Ally said. “I just want to be able to make other people feel the way that I’m feeling through my [art].” 

As an art enthusiast, Ally experiments with different mediums, including drawing and painting. However, digital art holds a special place in their heart, especially during the pandemic when it was the most readily available option. In their artwork, Ally draws inspiration from current social movements, channeling their creativity to create pieces such as Art Club’s Black Lives Matter mural.

In hopes of sharing their excitement about art with others, Ally tutors young girls from minority families through the Connecting Futures Now’s (CFN) program. In addition to providing academic support in subjects such as computer science, Ally uses art as a tool to offer a unique educational approach to her tutees.

“I love seeing the kids really excited about their own art abilities [and] being able to draw their own images,” Ally said. “Seeing their satisfaction with themselves and their excitement in learning has been really cool.”

Beyond serving as a means of self-expression, art offers Ally a pathway to explore the intersection of different fields at a more professional level. Every month, Ally meets with a UC Irvine professor to work on a project that combines AI, art and physics.

The project began as an interphase physics internship where Ally annotated images of bubbles and trained an AI model. Over time, the internship evolved into Ally drawing and creating AI-related artwork for the professor. This project not only allows Ally to explore the fields of STEM and art but also serves as an opportunity to break down gender barriers in the field.

“One of the things my mentor tries to bring into the conversation when we’re having meetings is the idea of non-men in STEM,” Ally said. ”We all understand that this is a place that does have a lot of opportunities for women and non-binary people, so she tries to push the idea that as people who are not men, we should be able to have the same capabilities as them.”

While Ally has been creating art since childhood, it wasn’t until their sophomore year that they grew fully confident in their artistic abilities. Close friend Clare Jin (12) is proud of the transformation in Ally’s mindset towards art.

“They’ve definitely become more strong-minded and confident over the years,” Clare said. “A key thing is that they’ve always been a super talented artist, but I don’t think they had ever seen art as something they want to do in the future. Over the past years, they’ve gotten more comfortable using art as a creative outlet to express themselves.”

Clare hopes that Ally will expand their art skills and continue to build their confidence as they move forward. However, as Ally cultivates confidence over the years, they have found that their greatest challenge with art is the tendency to evaluate their pieces too harshly.

“You’re always your biggest critic,” Ally said. “Your preferences and your taste in art are always going to improve faster than your artwork improves itself. Being able to understand that my artwork is still improving while also being able to critique it fairly is still difficult for me.”

Having met Ally in their freshman year, upper school art teacher Pilar Aguero Esparza echoes a similar sentiment. Although she has watched Ally’s confidence grow with experience, Aguero-Esparza believes that Ally still has room to trust their skills more. 

“Ally was a little more reluctant to try new areas of art during my Advanced Drawing class, which is definitely not an issue now since [they’re] more free now,” Aguero-Esparza said. “I really want Ally to trust their skills since they’re so talented both with ideas and the final product.”

While Ally has embraced art more in recent years, they still ensure to make time for their friends, a quality which Emma Biswas (12) appreciates.

“Ally is very not judgemental and is a great listener, so I can open up to [them] about pretty much everything,” Emma said. “Ally will go out of her way to text me, ‘How are you feeling?’ even if we haven’t talked in a long time.”

Ally also offers their artistic support to their peers, such as by illustrating the cover for the Student Directed Showcase (SDS). Whether supporting their friends through simple conversations or assisting fellow community members, Ally’s dedication to service is a fundamental part of their approach to life. 

“I want to be remembered for always being there to help people,” Ally said. “With or without art, I’ve been the kind of person that people want to ask for help from or talk to, whether it’s about school or life in general. I just want to be there for people.”