Student Exhibit - Virtual Gallery

This year would have been the third year students from some of the local Catholic high schools exhibited their work at The Monastery Gallery of Art.

Given that the Gallery is currently closed to the public, we decided to present their work virtually. Enjoy the wide-range of subject matter, the mediums used and the talents of these up and coming artists!

The artist are students (or in some cases recent graduates) from Mercy High School in Middletown, St. Paul Catholic High School in Bristol, East Catholic High School in Manchester and Northwest Catholic High School in West Hartford.

To navigate through the exhibit, just continue to scroll down on this page. In order to view the full piece of art, click on the image and a popup will open so you can see each artists work in more detail. 
Mercy High School - Middletown, CT

Teacher Statement 

Students Maryrose DiPiro ‘20, and Gabriela Maguder-Castro ‘20, are both recent graduates of Mercy High School in Middletown, CT.  I have had the privilege of teaching and working with both students during their time at Mercy. Maryrose and Gabby are each motivated and possess a creative presence and mental dexterity to move beyond the basics of a class project. I set assignments and presentation goals for advanced students and then we enjoy lively critique and ready work to display on the walls of the school. Design has been a strong working element for both students whether drawing, painting, printing or exploring computer graphic elements. 

They both attended vibrant summer programs they loved. Maryrose attended Roger Williams University, and Gabriela, Savannah College of Art and Design. They were able to explore with excitement and strengthen their academic direction. Both students are planning to attend these same schools with a major in Architecture. I wish them all the best.

Gemma Dowd
Fine Arts Teacher, Mercy High School
Maryrose DiPiro '20, Mercy High School

Always Growing - Medium: print/ hand-carved stamp + ink
Cubismo de Noche - Colored Pencil. Inspired by an assignment in Spanish class, I recreated Picasso’s "The Reservoir" using cool tones instead of warm to create a nighttime scene. I decided to call it Night Cubism, or Cubismo de Noche.
Call it Magic - Embroidery. For this work, I created a hand-stitched embroidery hoop detailing a "magical forest" scene, inspired by a Coldplay song.

Gabriela Maguder-Castro '20, Mercy High School

Tutty Frutty - Pastel. Direct observation of a bowl with plastic fruit.
Imaginary Eye - Digital art using application (Paintwork) Sketch of an imaginary eye.
Bloodline - Charcoal pencils, pastel. In this direct observation, the objects represent my heritage and family history. The fan is a Spanish symbol, the skull represents all of my ancestors and the candlestick and vase represent what's been
passed down through the generations.
​Made for Walking - Pastels. Quick direct observation sketch of a pair of boots.
Miss Gab - Acrylic paint, paper towels, magazine pictures A visual representation of my bold and bright personality through colorful pictures and paint.
Coldest Autumn - Acrylic paint. This painting portrays a girl in a mirror surrounded by darkness and stormy weather. Though she is trapped, she does not feel that way because she has created her own safe place and feels at ease
knowing she has control over her own happiness.
​Design and Architect Sample 1, 2 & 3 - These art works are design and architecture samples using Livehome 3-D.

St. Paul Catholic High School - Bristol, CT

Teacher Statement 

As an art teacher, and "guide", my goals for my students are to gain self confidence and bring THEIR vision to each piece of art they create. I want them to feel confident in their decision making abilities and to use their imagination when producing work. Additionally, I aim to equip them with the skills and knowledge to expand their craftsmanship and appreciation for art.

​Meghan Balliet
Fine Arts Teacher, St. Paul Catholic High School

Sarah Lynch '20, St. Paul Catholic High School

Audrey - This Old Hollywood inspired paper dress was carefully crafted with reflective gold card stock paper. Each piece was folded by hand and layered one on top of the other to create a sharp, edgy look. A classic black velvet choker and belt wrap around the waist and neck, with four simple gold fasteners as accents on the front of the belt. Vibrant, red lips adorn the face and a red velvet fabric on the bottom bring a pop of color to the piece while tying the look together.​
Silence - After taking this image of the moon one night during quarantine, I wanted to remind and hopefully inspire others to take in the beauty that can be found in the moon. The contrast between the lightness of the moon and the darkness of the sky brings about a sense of balance that is much needed in the world right now.

Imani David '20, St. Paul Catholic High School

My Mother and I - This piece captures my mother and I looking to the side. It captures our relationship, also with a black and white approach that adds to the dramatic effect.
Portrait of a Native American - This piece captures the face of an elder Native American man. The black and white exemplifies the dramatic and serious face that he presents, one that notes that he has a story to tell. This piece looks to capture that story, which can also be seen in the eyes
Emily Esposito '20, St. Paul Catholic High School

Gustavo - This piece was created by sewing 300 lb rough watercolor paper with red and black thread. I decided to draw a piece focusing on a Japanese dragon. There is also Japanese lettering on the piece which can be translated as “Gustavo”; the dragon's name. I created this piece to emphasize mark making.
Marina Classen '21, St. Paul Catholic High School

Reflecting the Truth - This drawing was inspired by the word “surreal” and was created with graphite pencils. The original idea for this drawing was to create a reversed broken mirror, so that instead of the mirror being shattered when the girl looks into it, her face is the breaking point. This represents how people sometimes pretend to be okay to the point of where it destroys them on the inside. The mirror is a
reflection of what the girl is really feeling and how she can not hold it in anymore.
Stephanie Wills '21, St. Paul Catholic High School

Untitled - I got the idea to make this painting by finding a sunset outside of my house one night and it gave me the inspiration to paint something like it. So I painted a silhouette of birds and trees with a sunset behind it. The materials I used were acrylic paints and paintbrushes and a canvas paper.
Gillian Winegar '21, St. Paul Catholic High School

Viktor Elliot - Catnip on a Wednesday afternoon turned into the perfect balance of light and reflection from Viktor himself. I used an iPhone 11 Pro Max in Portrait mode to take this picture.
Ava Boucino '23, St. Paul Catholic High School

Untitled - I made this for a sketchbook assignment. The assignment was to make a mandala, and I did it my own way. I used watercolor brush pens, alcohol markers, sharpie/liners, and black acrylic paint.
East Catholic High School - Manchester, CT

​Judy Landry
Fine Arts Teacher, East Catholic High School
Daniel Pan '21, East Catholic High School

There is a rather high percentage of international students who have varying levels of psychological illnesses; academic pressure, language barriers, and acculturative stress could all lead to their lack of mental stability to some extent. I, as an international student as well, want to investigate how they would feel when emotional meltdown happens, so I asked some of my friends around who have been through hard times. And hopefully, through art, I can call people's attention to their mental health.
Maya Gopal '20, East Catholic High School

As a half-Indian, half-Italian teen, I struggle to balance the cultures and religions I grew up with. Exploring the depths of my personal cultural conflict, my portfolio illustrates my struggle to reconcile contrasting ways of life, and transitions to depicting the existential crisis which resulted from the deep internal reflection necessary to make the initial works. My initial pieces include religious or cultural motifs like the cross or the om. Later pieces lack explicit references, instead evoking existentialism and despondency through a lack of subject, abstraction of physical appearances, or inclusion of vast, void outer space.
Serena Wang '20, East Catholic High School

My concentration explores the absurdity of digital addiction through a close-up portrayal of exaggerated facial expressions while replacing the electronic products with mundane, unrelated objects. I am saddened by the unavoidable digital interactions that bring indifference and awkwardness into daily face-to-face communications. The interchange between technology and ordinary objects infiltrates humor and awareness into my portfolio. 
Northwest Catholic High School - West Hartford, CT

Teacher Statement

Even during this trying time, the art students at Northwest Catholic truly showed us what they were made of; faith, strength, love, and kindness, and all of that came out via artistic expression; they kept the creativity flowing! Teaching this year, especially during these unusual circumstances has showed me how truly blessed I am to be their teacher and to have the community that is Northwest. My students made it easier to get up in the morning, knowing their smiling faces were on the other side of a screen waiting for me. I am so unbelievably proud of each and every one of them.

Celina Marquis Kelly
Fine Arts Department Chair, Northwest Catholic High School
Paige DiCiccio '20, Northwest Catholic High School

Deep Cascade - Acrylic paint pour on canvases. The name of this project is entitled Deep Cascade. Portrayed as a series of abstract ocean paintings, an objective of this proposal is to provide people with a take on the ocean, being wild and unpredictable. The intention is that people of all ages and backgrounds will look at Deep Cascade and recognize that the ocean is both a powerful and beautiful natural wonder of the world. Providing people with these ocean paintings will allow people to have a new perspective on everyday encounters with people, places, and things. Allowing oneself to get below the surface of someone, or something, can be used to help present day issues. As the world gets more and more advanced in terms of a society, it is simply too easy for people to succumb to it, and in turn people gravitate more towards ideas that are only skin deep. People simply do not spend enough time reflecting, learning, growing, or expressing individuality. Interestingly enough, my paintings will serve as that way for people to think wholesomely about what is in front of them. Critically analyzing my paintings will impact several, with an outcome of practicing this type of thinking in the future. This essentially will lead people to have conversations that have opinions expressed through originality. Through discussions inspired by my work, people from all over will no longer stand for a one-size-fits-all opinionated world.
Dayanara Vega '20, Northwest Catholic High School

Drowning Sculpture  - Sculpey clay, wood panel, acrylic paint. All of my paintings are playing into the overall theme of human emotion, and how someone’s happiness could fade overtime. That feeling of drowning in your own emotions is portrayed in this sculpture where the girl is trying to keep herself up float to prevent herself from drowning in her own emotions. Her surroundings may look tranquil but in reality, she is physically drowning. She is unable to get herself out of the water because of the weight of her heart that keeps pulling her down again and again.
Nyay Aye ' 20, Northwest Catholic High School

Untitled - Oil and acrylic on canvas. Two canvases photographed together. I find colors to be very appealing and fascinating by how unique each individual color is and how it can express or change a mood. These pieces concentrate on the theme: portraiture of personal significance incorporating color relations. Each piece expresses how I view and feel about the colors through people who are important in my life. To challenge myself through experimentation, I restricted each piece with certain colors, while having gold present continuously. To connect things further, strokes from the background or around the painting have an unobtrusiveness bond that ties the pieces together.
Injun Hwang '20, Northwest Catholic High School

Tiger - ​Matboard sculpture, acrylic paint, and pen
Isabella Krocheski '20, Northwest Catholic High School

Lunch! - Oil on canvas. My concentration is about telling a story through animal movements. Almost every piece has a different pose or perspective. The animals in this story are a panther, a tropical bird, and an angelfish and a change that happened unintentionally was that I associated certain colors with each animal. Part way through, I changed my concentration a little and rearranged my pieces so they would make one complete story instead of a bunch of little ones. I mostly used two or more canvases or pictures as one piece. Putting multiple images together gave my concentration a comic book style, and I believe this is effective as the main focus of my concentration is illustration. For this piece, I worked on blending. I did thick layers and then scraped parts away for the fur and scales.
Melania Gluch '20, Northwest Catholic High School

Untitled - Acrylic on canvas. I wanted my concentration to be a metaphor connected to a larger meaning, transcending simply artistic interpretation. I chose to relate it to our planet’s current state and how the balance between the natural and unnatural can be a wonderful thing. However, when the unnatural becomes too powerful, the beauty struggles to exist. A major issue facing our world right now is the health of our planet and the damage it bears through man made forces. Despite this, there is harmony between the two. How I chose to portray this message is through a mix of geometric and natural aspects. My pieces include scenes or elements of nature combined with graphic features. As the sustained investigation begins, the harmony exists consisting of beautiful natural features with minimal geometric designs. As the unnatural begins to outweigh the natural, the pieces become overly complicated and lose their beauty. The focus is no longer on how nature and geometry mimic each other, rather it focuses too heavily on the geometric portions. As the concentration progresses, the natural features become more dull, less colorful and more solemn. Relaying the message that once the unnatural becomes too powerful, not only is the imbalance unsightly, however, nature itself starts to recognize the impact and cannot flourish as it did in its harmonious state.
Ann Tran '22, Northwest Catholic High School

Skull - Charcoal, Anatomy study
Columns - Acrylic on canvas, Architectural study

Grace Bradley '22, Northwest Catholic High School

Skull - Charcoal, Anatomy Study
Converse - Pencil, 9 x 12, Study on observational skills

Victoria Laing '22, Northwest Catholic High School

Fredrick - Acrylic on canvas
Hands ​- Acrylic on drywall
Avery Polking '22, Northwest Catholic High School

Corinthian Columns - Acrylic on canvas, Architectural study
Anna Montoney '23, Northwest Catholic High School

Memory Project - Acrylic on canvas