Edward Zhao ’17, Alexa D’Ambrosio ’17: “I would really love to make greeting cards,” explained March artist of the month Nellie Konopka ‘16. “That’s something I’d love to do. Or to make Starbuck’s gift cards and stuff like that. There’s art all around us that we don’t notice, like packaging on tape… someone had to make that.”
As Konopka begins thinking about her future, she considers “either illustration or printmaking or painting… I’m not the type of person who can stick to one thing, so we’ll see how well it turns out when I have to pick out a major one year from now. I do consider myself a painter though.”
Konopka’s passion for art began fifteen years ago. She said, “I’ve been doing art literally since I was three. The first thing I asked for from my parents was an easel.” She continued, “Through my entire life, I’ve always been good at art, so my parents and everyone else encouraged me to go with that and run.” Her love of art started as a hobby, but, “because it was something that I knew I was good at, so I could really excel in it, and every one wants to be good at something.”
Konopka has found inspiration in professional artists, especially female artists. She said, “I’m a very big fan of early female artists like Frida Kalo and Georgia O’Keefe because just in terms of women in art, 70% of BFA graduates are women, but 70% of gallery artists are men. It’s a very male dominant society, and all the top selling artists in history are men, and it’s just something that’s important for me as a female artist to look up to other female artists.” Still, Konopka admires male artists like Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. She said, “All the technically basic cliche artists are artists that I love, and that might be cheesy, but they’re famous because they’re good. I’m not ashamed about liking artists that everyone else likes.” Konopka explained, “Different people have different things to say, and I’m drawn to artists that have similar things to say as me. I’m not a big fan of Rembrandt. He’s an amazing artist, but it’s just not something that I’m drawn to.”
Photo Courtesy of David Sigel.
Konopka has also grown as an artist with the assistance of EA teachers. “I would not be as good of an artist as I am if it were not for Mr. Sigel and Ms. Hutchinson because they assign me things. I have deadlines and I have to get them done so it’s a great excuse for me to do art. I might consider myself an artist, but if I didn’t have art classes telling me that things were due, it just wouldn’t get done.” While Konopka considers herself a painter, and feels most comfortable in the 2 dimensional studio, she noted her experience in honors 3d art last year was extremely valuable. “3d was hard for me because I wasn’t the best at 3d. And that was a very strange and new thing for me and something that definitely helped me as an artist…Learning 3d definitely helped me when I went back into 2d this year and did a class at Tyler school of art this summer. Some of my favorite portfolio pieces were from the 3d class.”
Hillary Hutchinson, 3d art teacher, observed, “I had Nellie last year in the Honors 3d class, and she’s taking ceramics now. So she’s been a mainstay in all of the studios. She’s done some photography with Mr. Leslie. She’s certainly involved in dance and in the plays, so she’s always looking for new things.” Hutchinson has had the opportunity to watch Konopka grow and hone her artistry since middle school as well. “Watching her work develop from a 7th grader to a 12th grader is a huge leap, but what has stayed consistent is her enthusiasm, her energy, her creativity, and her committed interest in studying art…She’s tenacious…I’m really proud of her. She works hard.”
David Sigel, Chair of the Visual Arts Department, explained that Nellie is “is great at illustration. She is great at observation. She is great at oil painting, drawing, and meshing of the two mixed media. She is always thinking creatively and trying different things…We just finished the canonization of an ordinary object. Nellie has a lot of humor along with her artwork, so she chose to work on a roll of toilet paper.” Sigel also commented on Konopka’s unique approach and style in the art studio: “To be an artist is sometimes a very quiet pursuit where you are there with your own thoughts. Nellie is one of those unique people who is not just a quiet artist. She shows who she is through her work and she’s out there. She is proud to say ‘I’m Nellie and hear me roar.’”
Beyond school, Konopka has explored a diverse range of classes: “I’ve taken metalsmithing, jewelry design, raku pottery, which is where you throw pottery in a trash can in an alleyway, and also figure drawing because you can’t work with nude models here.” She is a vegetarian, yet she even tried to take a class in taxidermy, but unfortunately, “The taxidermy class did not work out because no one else in the Philadelphia area signed up for it.”
Konopka will be attending Rhode Island School of Design this Fall, where art will become even more of a full time commitment. Konopka explained, “For me, I’m always drawn to aesthetics, and I guess it [art] is a relaxing thing, but it’s also one of the most frustrating things in my life. When it comes down to…the idea process and the creating and the detail work and all this nitty gritty stuff, it’s not really that relaxing.” She further elaborated on her point by saying, “Like when I tell people that I’m going to art school, they’re kind of like, ‘that sounds like so much fun.’ I’m like ‘well, not really.’ A part of me wishes that I didn’t do art and…I could go into law or something,” but she acknowledged “that’s not what’s going to happen because I need to do art to function. It’s how I think. I think visually.”
Konopka’s friend Leah Marchant ‘16 discussed Konopka’s contagious energy. “I think everyone in the school knows Nellie. She is extremely outgoing…she has her own sense of humor and fills the school with laughter. In the art room, her contagious optimism remains.” Marchant added, “To Nellie, the current work is the most important thing in her life, and it requires her complete attention and honest dedication. This focus is sometimes short-lived. After a few minutes she may be right back to dancing around the art room, rapping along to the Hamilton soundtrack or summer hits of the 90’s.” Marchant concluded by explaining the influence Konopka has had on the Episcopal community: “Nellie definitely sets the bar high for EA art students. In dance and theater, she has proved to be courageous and confident. She has such a love for these art forms; truly, she was made to be an artist.”