Artiste Extrodinaire, Mary Yap

While most Pre-Meds are withering away from hours of lab and the formidable monster that is O-Chem., 2^nd year Mary Yap manages to tackle all her academic obligations while creating stunning works of art. Despite not having taken a single art class until her first year at UChicago, Mary has been producing incredible oil paintings of portraits and landscapes since the age of 7 when she received her first oil paint set.

 A Biology major and Visual Arts minor, Mary discovered her love and capacity for painting after playing around with her new set of paints and looking at the work of painter, Thomas Kinkade. Mary remarks how her first paintings were all replicas of Kinkade’s work, this repetitive practice allowing her to hone her skills while observing the colors and patterns presented in different pieces of art. As she was homeschooled for several years during elementary school, Mary was not restricted by a strict schedule and was afforded the freedom to paint for hours if she wished. Painting was not so much a hobby as it was an activity that was integrated into her everyday life.
 
Though landscapes were her subject of choice growing up, Mary is now particularly drawn to portraits, a preference change that occurred after she drew her first portrait for a high school IB Arts project. Initially worried about the prospect of depicting a person, Mary soon recognized how painting people heightened her sense of emotional involvement in art. The ability to convey human feelings and action while preserving someone’s character in a tangible way had a strong pull that she was unable to resist. Art could be so much more than aesthetically pleasing; with a couple movements of the brush, Mary could manipulate or supplement to an individual’s emotions. Even more, when she exhibited her pieces at a local art fair, Mary observed the more intimate manner in which her audience connected with and discussed her portraits .
 
So far at UChicago, Mary has been taking various art classes along with her Pre-Med & Core required courses. Having now been exposed to techniques like contouring and different methods of brush strokes, Mary states that she has been able to experiment with art in ways that she was unaware of prior to these classes. She has also gained a more technical eye when approaching art, thinking about the nuances of paintings and how to utilize her newly learnt methods to enhance her work in a quicker, more effective fashion.
 
Ultimately, Mary aspires to become a pediatrician, hence the Bio major and Pre-Med geared course schedule. However, art is something that will continue to hold a presence in Mary’s life. She even hopes to return to art fairs and present her art to the public upon her retirement in medicine. But as for now, Mary will be painting for her enjoyment and further developing her artistry. After 3 hours of lab, of course.
 
Feast your eyes on her work at http://www.maryyap.com/?page_id=129