Senior Spotlight: Mason Sizemore
Wesley Ding '23 Staff Writer
Kajzahna Gray-Richardson '22 Staff Writer
Kajzahna Gray-Richardson '22 Staff Writer
Mason Sizemore is a senior at Howard High School. He is an artist that has taken three years of art, although he also took a high school level art class in middle school. He is most well-known for his mixed-media paintings, which contain metaphors about growth, life, and death.
Wesley (W): What kind of art do you like to make?
Mason (M): I think a lot of my art tends to focus on growth and experiences that inspire growth, and a lot of it also winds up getting into like my personal feelings and ways that I find to just grow as a person. So I did this one piece that was about these- I was interviewing people in prison about how they or what they think sort of led them to that point, and sort of just examining how their circumstances impacted their life. W: How many years of art have you taken in high school? M: I've taken four years of art, but technically I took a class in middle school, so I skipped art one. It was technically a high school art class, so four or around. Kajzahna (K): I have a follow-up question. Would you consider yourself an artist when people ask you that? Or would you just say like, “Oh yeah I like to do art?” M: I would consider myself an artist. Like I plan on going to art school. So, that’s the plan in life. W: What are some of the obstacles you faced while taking art in high school? M: I’d say definitely Covid was not great for making art, because it’s a very like, physical medium, and then I think that a large part of it was also the community, like in my sophomore year I made a whole group of new friends just through my art class. And then when we were online it was like the opposite of that. I feel like artists are sort of meant to connect people, and it was very difficult to connect with anybody, so I say that that was probably the most difficult thing, is sort of just losing that connection with teachers and other students. |
W: What was your favorite experience in art class?
M: I think my favorite experience- I think definitely one of the best ones in terms of like an assignment was we had to make three self-portraits and we could not use the same material for any of them, so like if you used a pencil at all in one of them, you were not allowed to like do any sketches or anything in pencil; you just had to like, everything had to be totally new, so it was really fun. And then there’s also a day in my sophomore year when all the seniors were gone, and because my class was all seniors, me and like five other people just drew awful drawings the whole day. K: When did you fall in love with art? M: Probably around when I was- I was really young. I think it was second grade when my art teacher put me in the mall art show and it was sort of the first time that anybody outside of my family had expressed any interest in anything I made, and even though in retrospect it was not very good, my art teacher thought that there was some sort of promise. And just because she thought it was like, worthwhile, it was enough for me to want to keep making art, and I sort of just never stopped. |
K: And what was that like to you? Did you feel like, seen for the first time?
M: Yeah, I mean, I think that was definitely a part of it. I think it was just like I don't know if it was quite seen. It was more like something that I made resonated with another person. And I think that was like a really great feeling. A lot of the art I make now is like I do a lot of like narratives and media and things like that, just because I think a lot of times people can connect easier with a narrative than just like a single image, right? So a lot of my stuff is like animation or filmmaking, or like sequential art, like a lot of paneling. Just because I think a narrative some people can connect with easier. So I think the fact that like, early on, it was important to me that my art was able to resonate with people or lead to more stuff.
M: Yeah, I mean, I think that was definitely a part of it. I think it was just like I don't know if it was quite seen. It was more like something that I made resonated with another person. And I think that was like a really great feeling. A lot of the art I make now is like I do a lot of like narratives and media and things like that, just because I think a lot of times people can connect easier with a narrative than just like a single image, right? So a lot of my stuff is like animation or filmmaking, or like sequential art, like a lot of paneling. Just because I think a narrative some people can connect with easier. So I think the fact that like, early on, it was important to me that my art was able to resonate with people or lead to more stuff.
W: Thank you. My last question is: what do you think would improve art classes at Howard?
M: I haven't really been in a normal art class in a while. But I think the main way that it could be improved is especially earlier on doing more group critiques. Because that is something that's really important. As time goes on in art, one and two, it's really just the teacher will maybe tell you some stuff about it. Whereas I think it once you get into art three and four, you're constantly presenting everything as a group and then in art school, you're doing every assignment you're graded based off of a group. So I think putting more importance on that is probably the only change I would make but we have a really great program here. |
K: Do you feel like Howard successfully molded you into like the artist that you wanted to become?
M: Yes, I think Howard offers a lot of great options for artists in like a bunch of different mediums like the fact that we have a photo department with a darkroom, like not every school necessarily has that. And also the fact that we have the ARL. I was really into animation and like digital art and so the fact that I was still able to find that path at Howard. I thought it was really great. It sort of helped me be, like I said, the artist that I want to be.
K: Do you feel like you left your footprint or your legacy at Howard?
M: I hope so. It's sort of hard for me to know.
K: Is that a goal of yours?
M: Not necessarily. My art was never really like- especially as time went on, it was very difficult for it to be something that Mr. Hensley would like leave hanging on the walls for years like some of the paintings in there. But I would like to think that at some point, he will bring up my name in terms of like, some guy who made this two minute animation for his class.
K: Do you hope to, in the future, go off to college or art school and stuff like that? Are you just more focused on like, your art connecting with people?
M: I think I'm more focused on my art connecting with people. I'm not super concerned about me at the school itself, it's more just like I want sort of the experiences that I had when I was younger, watching movies or looking at art and going to art museums, like I sort of want to create that same feeling within other people. But yeah, I'm not super concerned.
K: Well, that's beautiful. That was my last question. Okay, thank you so much. Thank you. I want to check out your art!
M: Yes, I think Howard offers a lot of great options for artists in like a bunch of different mediums like the fact that we have a photo department with a darkroom, like not every school necessarily has that. And also the fact that we have the ARL. I was really into animation and like digital art and so the fact that I was still able to find that path at Howard. I thought it was really great. It sort of helped me be, like I said, the artist that I want to be.
K: Do you feel like you left your footprint or your legacy at Howard?
M: I hope so. It's sort of hard for me to know.
K: Is that a goal of yours?
M: Not necessarily. My art was never really like- especially as time went on, it was very difficult for it to be something that Mr. Hensley would like leave hanging on the walls for years like some of the paintings in there. But I would like to think that at some point, he will bring up my name in terms of like, some guy who made this two minute animation for his class.
K: Do you hope to, in the future, go off to college or art school and stuff like that? Are you just more focused on like, your art connecting with people?
M: I think I'm more focused on my art connecting with people. I'm not super concerned about me at the school itself, it's more just like I want sort of the experiences that I had when I was younger, watching movies or looking at art and going to art museums, like I sort of want to create that same feeling within other people. But yeah, I'm not super concerned.
K: Well, that's beautiful. That was my last question. Okay, thank you so much. Thank you. I want to check out your art!