An Artist, Homesick: The High Schooler Trapped in Beijing

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It’s not uncommon to hear that being an art kid is easy. But high school student Elise Shi doesn’t think that’s true at all.

With aspirations to head into jewelry design, Elise is a student at Dulwich College Beijing who’s just about to begin her college applications to art schools. And unlike many people who choose to head abroad for their summer holidays, the seventeen-year-old is stuck in Beijing, tied down by the very thing that she’s so passionate about.

Elise Shi has been doing art since the age of 10. Her motivation stems from her usage of art as an escape: her childhood environment, being less than healthy, had barred her from going outside and had forced her to take up other entertainment. This included picking up a pencil and beginning to draw. Her previous interests helped feed this newfound hobby, and she found herself wanting to improve her artistic skills to draw her favorite characters and fiction. This, later on, led to her enjoyment of design and was narrowed down to her current passion: jewelry design. This is just her motivation, though, as she believes that art can come from many different places.

This summer is the first time Elise has had an opportunity to leave the country due to COVID restrictions. Yet this art, which has been her hobby, her interest, and her passion for the past few years, is exactly the thing that prevents her from leaving.

She really misses the UK, she says. It’s been 4 and a half years since she’s gone back, and her hometown, North Northfolk in England, is nothing more than a lingering memory for her. But she can’t leave. Travel takes up time, and time is exactly what she lacks: she’s a student just starting her art portfolio, and after juggling the vigorous IB Diploma, she’s running out of time.

The art portfolio is a required component for all students wishing to take art in higher education, consisting of 4 projects that require development and processing. In these, a student needs to show that they’ve done both firsthand and secondhand research, as well as designing and finalizing it. Elise admits that’s the most time-consuming part, because art never seems good enough. Unlike a math equation that has one solid answer, that’s not the case for art, which seems to always be in process. This in-process nature is exactly what’s stopped her from leaving, and what keeps her working from Tuesday to Sunday, with her only day off being Monday. Her entire summer, it seems, is utterly dedicated to art projects.

Elise agrees that many people claim that art is easy. She thinks that this may have to do with the abstract nature of it – and while she agrees that there is a simplistic nature to it, “easy” isn’t the truth at all. Art, like many other professions, is a set of skills that need development and endless practice to be good at. Despite its subjective nature, it still requires many other skills, like thinking and imagination; not everyone can express their thoughts in any shape or form.

This diligence is just one of the many sacrifices that an artist has to make. It just proves that art isn’t as simple and laid-back as many people expect it to be. It proves that artists have it hard, just as much or even more than the rest of us: it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes, it requires dedication, perseverance, and an entire summer holiday.

Image: Elise Shi

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