Emily Freeman
Photos courtesy of Emily Freeman
Alex: When did you first get into the makeup scene?
Emily: When I was in sixth grade. But my love for makeup started when I was six years old. My parents made me watch the movie “Aliens” and it scared me a lot, but then I watched the special features on how they did the aliens in the movie and that really kick started my love for makeup because I was like “Oh my god this is so cool!”
Alex: What are your main inspirations? How do you utilize them in your work?
Emily: My main makeup inspirations are Ve Neill, she’s a very well known makeup artist. She’s won three Oscars. She’s Tim Burton’s makeup artist, she did Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, and all those movies. She’s amazing and I love the way she uses color in her looks. She very rarely uses prosthetics and when she does it’s very minimal, and I can respect that.
Alex: Do you have a favorite medium?
Emily: I really enjoy doing things with color, so in beauty makeup I enjoy doing eyeshadow because it’s the most colorful part of the look. But with special effects you can kind of do whatever. Definitely painting, and adding color, and making it look realistic is my favorite part.
Alex: Do you have a favorite look you’ve done?
Emily: I’ve had a couple. After Spider Man Homecoming movie came out, I did a look inspired by the movie and it took me a couple of tries because I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but then I ended up getting the final look. It took me a few hours. For Halloween a couple years ago I did Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy, which was a lot of fun. I woke up really early to do it. Those ones i really like because they ended up being really successful to me.
Alex: What was your favorite part of doing the looks?
Emily: Coming up with the concepts. My favorite part of doing recreations of characters from movies is trying to get them screen accurate. Then i can feel more proud because i can do these looks they do in movies by myself and that makes me feel better about my skills.
Alex: Are there any musical, visual, or other artists who have given you inspiration?
Emily: There’s a few. So I was talking about Aliens earlier as being a movie that’s super important to me. The man who came up with all the concept art for those movies, H R Giger is a really big inspiration to me. He does really amazing creepy body horror art and I love body horror and how internally upsetting it is. It also relates to the fashion group from Paris called Fecal Matter. I love how they do their own thing and do it confidentiality.. I find that really cool.
Interview by Alexandra Dowd, Julia Kay Smith, and Sophie Knifton
Gabby Sherwood
Art courtesy of Gabby Sherwood
JK: When did you first get into visual arts?
Gabby: I’ve been doing visual arts my whole life. I started drawing when I was really little. I think I started developing deeper meaning in my art when I got older, though, during freshman year.
JK: Was there a particular class that helped you develop a deeper meaning?
Gabby: Drawing. I’m in drawing 3 right now, so I’ve been taking it since freshman year. It’s a really good class because Mr. Martinez really lets you explore different kinds of mediums, and I really like to get to try everything because there are certain things I’m not really good at, and others things I am really good at. I really like working with pen and ink because I like to draw really small details.
JK: What are your biggest inspirations currently?
Gabby: I think I’m generally inspired by nature. I like to go and take pictures a lot, and I get ideas from those. A repeating motif in my art is nature and plants. I really enjoy being outside and hiking, and I find a lot of inspiration from those.
JK: Are there any particular places where you take photos?
Gabby: Generally in creeks and hiking spots, or like if I take a road trip to a ranch or we go camping somewhere.
JK: As a varsity athlete, has this influenced your art at all? Especially considering time management.
Gabby: It can be hard sometimes, depending on the season. Right now I just run, but in the fall it’s really intense with cross country and that can be a little hard. Same thing with the spring and competition season. I have to make sure I’m allowing enough time to finish art pieces and do it in a timely manner because sometimes the deadline can creep up on you.
Sophie: How many art pieces have you done so far this year?
Gabby: We did three pieces in the first semester, overall we’ve done four so far. It’s not very intense with due dates, but that’s just for my drawing class. In printmaking, the first thing we did was our 5x7 black and white linos, then we did our multicolor linos, then we did an italio, we did two of those where they were connected with a theme or something, and for our final we did a big multicolor. Right now, we’re finishing up printing a big black and white lino.
JK: Do you have a favorite art class you’ve taken at McCallum?
Gabby: Drawing and printmaking have been my two favorite classes. I’ve really enjoyed printmaking, and I think it’s something I want to continue doing during college and after college. I’ve gotten a lot better at it, and I really like the process of getting to carve something and make it your own and then getting to print a bunch of those.
JK: Do you have any plans for college?
Gabby: I’m considering going into college to get a degree in fine arts. More specifically I’d like to keep exploring printmaking and seeing what careers could come out of that. One day the ultimate goal is to have my own business in selling my art: prints, drawings, and paintings. I think that after college I’d like to possibly work for a company doing illustrations. Not specifically Disney, but something like that working with illustrations and storyboarding.
JK: Do you have any favorite pieces that you’ve worked on in high school?
Gabby: I did a pen and ink drawing of the Paramount. I really liked doing this piece. It took me so long, and I procrastinated so much. The night before it was due I worked six hours straight on it. I started working at 7 and went to bed at 2. I really like working with pen because it’s so particular and I can create a more powerful image with ink versus paint, which is not my strong suit, because I can include every groove and detail.
Sophie: Is there anything else you’d like to say about your art?
Gabby: Next year I’ll have to start developing out a portfolio for college, I’m not planning on going to an art school but rather I want to go into an art program at whatever school I decide to go to.
JK: What schools are you thinking of?
Gabby: Right now I’ve only looked at Colorado State and UC Boulder because I like Colorado and they both have fine arts programs where I can get a fine arts degree and take classes I like. I have to work on developing a portfolio, and I’m going to keep trying to develop out my repetitiveness with nature. Recently I’ve been doing a lot of aquatic nature, like I’ve done jellyfish. In my recent piece I had fish and a river goddess. But I need to figure out why, sometimes, I’m just like “I really like it”.
Interview by Julia Kay Smith and Sophie Knifton
Alex Velasquez
“Today we have a lot of different things going on that's really bringing light to different cultures and experiences that have never really been looked at in the public eye and been pushed under the rug and now those stories get to be told through rap”.
Photos courtesy of Estelle Shenkman
Alex Velasquez
“Today we have a lot of different things going on that's really bringing light to different cultures and experiences that have never really been looked at in the public eye and been pushed under the rug and now those stories get to be told through rap”.
When asked when he first fell in love with hip hop, musician and McCallum junior Alex Velasquez described how his middle school experience at Kealing, a McCallum feeder, first exposed him to hip hop music and culture. He credited his friend, and fellow musician, Yeshua for first introducing to artists such as Logic, J Cole, Nas, and Wu Tang Clan, describing how his love for hip hop music “snowballed” from there. After briefly discussing several influential 90s hip hop artists, specifically Tupac, Biggie, and Mobb Deep, we turned the discussion to the various movements and themes within modern hip hop. Alex particularly pointed to the progressive themes in current music, describing how modern music “is a lot less lying and bullshit.” Alex noted the importance of this with reference to the growing diversity of the genre: “Today we have a lot of different things going on that's really bringing light to different cultures and experiences that haven’t really been looked at in the public eye and been pushed under the rug. Now those stories get to be told through rap.” For example, Alex brings up musician Tyler the Creator, who identifies as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, as a key artist in bringing light to stigmatized subjects.
Throughout his interview, the discussion became less about rap music itself, but the themes surrounding the industry. Drug culture, stereotypes, racial composition, and domestic violence were all subjects Alex voiced his opinion on throughout our time together. Tying these all together, Alex described how these issues are often unique to large cities. Reflecting on his experience growing up in the increasingly gentrified East Austin, Alex identifies that “unless you’ve seen things go on, and you’ve lived it a little bit, you won’t get it.” Just what these “things” he references are is more complex. Alex continually describes the impact hip hop music can have one someone’s life. In reference to his own life, Alex mentions the impression that Logic, a mixed raced artist, had on him: “I’m half white, half Mexican so [his music] really spoke to me.” Alex commends Logic’s open discussion of race and the stereotypes associated with being mixed race: “That got millions of people saying, ‘Oh that’s me too! We’re in the same place, I’m stuck in purgatory also.’ That can create a small community in itself that like, people will feel comfortable being themselves and be able to walk outside of the straight and narrow.”
When referring to his own music, Velasquez places heavy emphasis on personal experiences. “When I do write, most of the time I write about things like my sister or my dad”, he said. “Just, like, the kind of things that shape me into the person I am.” He also stresses the importance of individuality within one's art, mentioning how “there are so many talented people in there it’s like a sea of just… copies. And that’s been a thing that’s been going on forever, that's not anything that’s changed.” Alex sees originality and self acceptance as one of the greatest factors of success within the music industry. “There’s always going to be imitators and things like that but, when you can be real about it, then people will gravitate toward you”, Alex said.
As a hip hop artist in our day in age, Alex has had to answer some of the hardest questions that our generation is faced with everyday. What are the lasting effects of the vulgar, often mysognitistic, lyrics circulating the hip hop community? How have the many deaths due to drug overdose influenced a younger, growing generation, and are an increasing number of minors getting involved with drugs sooner? Growing up in Generation Z can be worrisome considering the unclear messages that are being conveyed to us. Yet, a new movement full of artists like Alex bring hope to the future of hip hop and the influence it has with young people.
By Sophie Knifton and Julia Kay Smith
McCallum Fashion Show: Paradigm
Every year, McCallum students collaborate to produce a benefit fashion show. It is entirely student directed, student designed, and student modeled. This years theme was Paradigm, and designers centered their lines on various literary archetypes. All proceeds went to the Literary Coalition of Central Texas which aims to increase the availability of literary services. Below, we have featured several of the talented designers who worked hard to make this show happen.
Photography by Kate Davern, Elise Cook, Estelle Shenkman, Gabby Sherwood, Bella Russo, and Bella Rothenflue
“I want to prove that you don’t have to be masculine to demonstrate a point or be followed as a role model.”
Paeka Campos
“I want to prove that you don’t have to be masculine to demonstrate a point or be followed as a role model.”
Paeka Campos
Paeka Campos, musical artist and junior at McCallum, strives towards redefining the relationship between feminism and the Hip-Hop community.
When asked when she first fell in love with Hip-Hop, Campos immediately responds with: “I’ve always been in love with Hip-Hop, ever since I was a little girl. I would hear it in my family and around me at school and stuff… it just always stood out to me.” Campos cites artists such as Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, Isaiah Rashad, Aaliyah, NBA Youngboy, and Lil Kim as a few of her current musical inspirations.
Throughout the interview, it became evident that Paeka holds a certain respect for old school Hip-Hop. She expressed a strong wish to change the thematic discussion within current music, reverting back to the themes older artists explore, such as storytelling through personal recounts and giving power to the historically disenfranchised: “I feel like no one wants to talk about real life problems in rap. They just wanna talk about girls, money, drugs, and stuff like that.” In specific, Wu Tang Clan stands out to Campos as an artist whose storytelling conveys more personal narratives. She also mentions Lil’ Kim considering her unapologetic honesty, confidence, and, of course, former relationship with Biggie Smalls. Inspired by these artists, Campos places emphasis on exploration of the blunt truth that a wide array of people can relate to within her own music: “It takes a real artist to focus on real issues and write in an artistic way for people to relate to and vibe to.”
After learning about her own musical inspirations and style, we turned the dialogue to the relationship between Hip-Hop and Generation Z, the cultural cohort of people born within the range of 1995 to 2012. Campos specifies mumble rap, a microgenre of rap characterized by simple and incomprehensible lyrics, as a unique element of current music. However, Campos identifies the little emphasis on lyricism as a problem within our generation: “It doesn’t really matter about the lyrics anymore, people just hear a hard beat and a man’s voice and they’re like ‘Oh this is hard’. They don’t listen to the messages anymore.” She further examines the link between popular music and its effects on our generation, asserting we are often numb to what we hear: “This day and age, everything is so messed up. Because we listen to this, we hear this all the time, we think it’s okay. We’re being influenced. We turn on the radio and every song has a negative message.”
When describing her own experience as a woman in the Hip-Hop community, she identifies the lack of female voice as a consistent problem within the music industry, “Men think that it’s okay to treat women disrespectfully because it’s portrayed in a song.” She further contends that listening to music that expresses derogatory attitudes encourages their continuation. “You're agreeing with it when you listen to it.” However, Campos plans on changing the current subject matters explored in music through her own art.
When discussing the most prolific artists steering current Hip-Hop, Campos becomes very animated. While respecting other musicians, she identifies the absence of strong female role models within popular music. She finds motivation in striving towards becoming one of these major influences, giving a voice to the formerly voiceless. She describes her platform as uniquely feminist, explaining that she writes her music “especially for women, because whenever we listen to songs in Hip-Hop it’s always about what we hold between our legs. We are so much more than that, especially mentally”. Throughout our time together, Campos continually repeated the sentiment that her main goal, is to surpass men: “My main motive is always to be better than men. Whenever women do write about gangster stuff and hard things, I don’t always want it to focus on the same narratives. I want it to be about empowerment”.
Through talking with Campos, it became clear that she is not here to mess around. Whether as an influence within popular music, the Hip-Hop community, or even here at McCallum, Paeka Campos is working towards redefining the role of feminism and representation within popular music.
By Sophie Knifton in collaboration with Julia Kay Smith, Kate Davern, and Olivia Sammon
Julian Chee-Garza
Julian Chee-Garza works to create a heightened sense of reality through his photography. By working with the limits of perception and our ideas of the world, Chee-Garza’s work illuminates a deeper image of life.
Julian began exploring photography and other media as a way to escape from a mundane world, photography is his emotional outlet. Since coming to McCallum, Chee-Garza has been given an opportunity to further explore his passion and think of new ways to present imagery. He has also been presented with a robust arts education through which he has been able to discover new artists and better understand artist’s intentions and the visions they portray.
Chee-Garza enjoys capturing the more ordinary aspects of the peoples’ lives in his work, taking the mundane and creating something beautiful from it, saying “My photography is mainly like slices of life, it’s not meant to be political but I’m sure you could find something there.” Drawing inspiration both internally and externally, Chee-Garza claims his ambitions have always stemmed from inside, although researching the work of other photographers gives him a better idea of how to convey a certain tone.
By Jordan Bibby and Grace Milligan
