EMERGING ARTISTS Victoria Qiu ’22 (Renfrew) and Tina Xian ’22 (Kaye’s

Artists Emerging VICTORIA QIU & TINA XIAN

STORY BY LAUREN MARTINELLO PHOTOGRAPHY BY ARDEN GILL

Ballerina Part 1 by Tina Xian

WITHIN THE TIGHT-KNIT COMMUNITY OF SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL, STUDENTS DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS AKIN TO FAMILY THAT STAY WITH THEM LONG AFTER THEY GRADUATE – RELATIONSHIPS THAT SERVE TO NURTURE, SUPPORT, INSPIRE, GUIDE, DIRECT, AND MAKE BETTER.

For two outstanding artists at the School, Grade 12 students Victoria Qiu (Renfrew) and Tina Xian (Kaye’s), this sense of family extends beyond the boarding house and into the art studio.

Tina, who attended a Waldorf school on Vancouver Island from the age of five, spent her elementary years in an environment where the arts and the natural world were at the forefront in her education, viewed as instrumental in cultivating a student’s imagination and creativity in order to serve their developmental needs. With art being such an integral part of her early education, it quickly became a passion of hers, and when she started at Shawnigan, the art studio was a place that immediately felt like home. Victoria’s story starts a bit differently. While she enjoyed doing art from a young age, her love of reading led to her passion for art. When she was reading, she would visualize the people and places of the story in her head and then draw them out. Once she started adding colours and playing with the shapes on the page, Victoria found herself drawing and doodling more than reading. Although they both came to Shawnigan in Grade 9, it wasn’t until the two were in Grade 10 that they really connected. They had classes together in the art room, and this is where they discovered their shared enthusiasm for the arts – and, guided by art teacher Vikki Agate, the two embarked on a journey neither of them anticipated. The openness that Vikki brought to the art studio provided an environment where the girls learned to better express themselves. Tina describes Vikki as supportive and open-minded, sharing appreciatively, “She is honest in her approach and encourages discussion around art as it is such a subjective and emotional thing.” It was Vikki who encouraged Victoria to pursue art and take AP Art 11, and, alongside Tina, the two were steered on a path that would ultimately influence their decisions for the future.

Fast-forward one year, and if you were ever looking for these two on campus, you would find them in their second home, the art studio. It became a place for them to be creative, as

well as to study, eat, and relax. It was a space where they could be themselves; they shared many emotions in it, they laughed and cried together in it, and they found a family in it. The growth they experienced in their art occurred during the countless hours spent in the studio; most days, they could be found there late into the evening. The studio holds many memories for these two not only because their friendship flourished within its walls, but also because it is where they produced their most important art projects – their AP Portfolios. A culmination of their hard work over the years, these portfolios were a true labour of love. Victoria’s AP Portfolio is her most memorable and emotional work to date. With “The Circle of Life” as its theme, the final product is a complex piece composed of nine separate panels which work beautifully on their own yet merge together to make one large image. The resulting shape is that of yin and yang, and it represents the different life stages we experience as we grow. “All those different emotions – the choices we make, the paths we choose to take – that’s how we become a full person,” Victoria explains as she reflects on her creation. “That is how my painting becomes whole. By themselves, each one looks nice, but when they come together, they have a greater meaning.” One piece in particular from Tina’s AP Portfolio has had the most impact on her. Her overall theme of “Contrast” emerged as she created a painting influenced by her experience as a dancer. The image is of two ballerinas: one on stage in the spotlight and one standing backstage. “Whether you are on the stage looking pretty with flowers or behind the scenes in the

dark, you are still beautiful regardless of whether someone sees you,” she says. “The fact that you put effort into it and are proud of what you did is enough.” These contrasting emotions that she experienced while dancing taught her to be open-minded and to find a balance between how much she puts into something and how much she gets out of it. Unbeknownst to Victoria and Tina at the outset, their AP Portfolio pieces were intertwined. Their works are the result of their own life experiences, as they learned to open themselves up and be vulnerable in order to create their art. When speaking with the two of them, their bond is evident. They can finish each other’s sentences, look to each other for affirmation, and exhibit an ease with each other that is often seen among siblings. They even want to follow similar paths once their time at Shawnigan comes to an end. Both have committed to architecture programs at top schools in the UK, with each citing female architects such as Maya Lin, Zaha Hadid, and Neri Oxman as their inspiration. They are both drawn to the undeniable connection between art and science that is found in architecture, and are encouraged by the emphasis on sustainability and the environment that is found in the works of many of these designers. Now, they are motivated to make a difference with their own designs. As a young girl, Victoria’s curiosity was piqued while watching a television program with her dad. Based out of China, the show follows an architect who takes on the challenge of redesigning tiny spaces so that the large family groups that reside in them can live more comfortably.

Circle of Life by Victoria Qiu

Coming from a culture that often sees multigenerational families living under one roof, the fact that one person – in this case an architect – could change the quality of life for an entire family inspired Victoria. From that point forward, she knew she wanted to do something that would make a difference in people’s lives. When the commission from the School to paint a campus map came in the fall of her Grade 12 year, it became even more apparent to Victoria that architecture was in her future. “I was able to look at all the different buildings on campus and see how they work together,” she says. She describes how she now saw the buildings on campus in a completely different light; she saw the beauty of their designs and their differences, giving her a whole new appreciation and connection to the School. The project had such an impact on her that it inspired her capstone project, a 3-D printed model of the buildings on campus. For Tina, it was when she was younger and working at a farm where she was surrounded by interesting and unique buildings that she developed an appreciation for architecture. When she started at Shawnigan, her art classes introduced her to well-known architects, and it was one architect in particular who inspired her. She immediately felt an affinity with Maya Lin due to her focus on environmentally sustainable development surrounding housing and city planning. This connected to Tina’s appreciation for the natural environment, which had been instilled in her from a young age, and it was soon clear to her where her future was going to take her. “Art is something I can’t get rid of in my life,” she explains. “I find a connection with the arts, which is the power behind it. The arts bring me together.” As Victoria and Tina’s art teacher, Vikki, shares, each wouldn’t be where she is if it weren’t for the other. They have pushed each other to greatness, and now the two of them are heading off into the world to do great things. Little did they know when they started at the School in Grade 9 that the journey that lay before them would be filled with such exploration and discovery and would lead to a friendship that will last a lifetime – a friendship that will keep them connected as they embark on their own journeys with the shared goal of making the world a better place.

In fall 2022, Tina will begin her studies at the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London, and Victoria will begin her studies in architecture at the University of Cambridge.