Year 13 Artist Wins Competition to Have her art exhibited in Royal Academy
Michelle Chang in Year 13 has won a prestigious competition to have her artwork ‘The Missing Supermarket Aisles’, displayed in the Royal Academy of Arts in London’s Piccadilly.
A Trip Down Memory Lane Inspires Michelle
Michelle Chang in Year 13 has won a prestigious competition to have her artwork ‘The Missing Supermarket Aisles’, displayed in the Royal Academy of Arts. Each year, the famous art academy in London’s Piccadilly holds a ‘Young Artists’ Summer Show’ and West Buckland is delighted that one of its students is going to take part.
Michelle, who studies Art, Chinese, Maths and Economics at A-level, was inspired by the topic of déjà vu and memory. She chose to depict places which reminded her of someone in her past and sent the images as postcards to the person who she hoped would share the memory with her.
Sister Shares Memory of Playing in the Supermarket
‘The Missing Supermarket Aisles’ was inspired by a memory shared with Michelle’s sister. As children, Michelle played chase in the supermarket with her sister, but when she went home last time, the supermarket had been closed and the building renovated, which felt very strange. She sent the image to her sister to see if she shared the vivid memory of this childhood game in the supermarket.
The teachers saw my potential
Head of Art, Amelia Morrison, helped Michelle to enter the competition and they are both delighted that her painting has been accepted, although Michelle admits it was unexpected.
“I didn’t really expect to join the competition for the RA but I believe the art teachers saw potential in me after seeing my paintings during the pandemic, so we decided together to submit my work into the competition. A few months later I got the news from Mrs Morrison that I won the competition, which was a complete shock!”
