Area Student Selected For Prestigious Exhibit

Casey Goldstein standing in the “Advanced Visions 14: High School Artists of Excellence” exhibit at LIU Post. Her work is pictured at the bottom left.

“Age Translated into Wisdom,” by Casey Goldstein

By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com

 The digital print work of Half Hollow Hills High School East’s Casey Goldstein was recently displayed at LIU Post’s Student Art League Gallery as part of the “Advanced Visions 14: High School Artists of Excellence” exhibit.

The exhibit, which also featured work from two other high schoolers from across Long Island, went on display in December and featured Goldstein’s “Age Translated into Wisdom,” a demonstration of mixed media that uses both photography and graphite to craft two side-by-side images.

“I enjoy doing mixed media and experimenting with different mediums within one piece and one composition,” Goldstein said. “I shot these two different images and laid them side-by-side. I felt like something was missing, so I wanted to add that extra layer to really emphasize the different layers each person has within themselves.”

The work depicts a man holding a piece of playdough over his face, a symbol of the the different layers there are to a person.

“I wanted to play on the insecurities that everyone, regardless of age, gender or culture, feels. That’s kind of a bond that connects every single person, because no one completely feels comfortable in their own skin,” Goldstein said.

She continued, “To me this is something that I really like to play on in my art and experiment with because, when I create art, I try to create a language that can be understood by everyone. Especially since there are no words in my art, just visuals, anyone regardless language or culture can understand every image.”

Hills East art teacher Allyson Uttendorfer selected Goldstein in October to represent the school in the exhibition.

Uttendorfer said Goldstein’s work always stood out from her peers, adding that she’s a natural artist.

“What I’ve always loved about Casey is that her work, everything she shoots or draws or paints, has a personal meaning to her,” Uttendorfer said. “She would never do anything without that personal connection.”

Goldstein said she was excited and caught off guard when she learned she was one of three students whose work was chosen for the exhibit.

“I was already honored enough to be chosen by Ms. Uttendorfer to be in the pool for this show,” she said. “To find out that I was actually chosen as one out of three people from all of Long Island was an incredible feeling.”

Her passion for art emerged  when she was a freshman and began taking photography and fashion classes.

Now a senior, while she’s undecided on which college she’ll attend, Goldstein said she plans to study photography and visual anthropology.

“Throughout high school, I realized that my photography isn’t just photography, it also is a lot of mixed media.”

The best way to supplement her photography, Goldstein said, was to also take classes in ceramics, sculpture, painting and drawing, She now works on her artistic craft 20 hours a week at Huntington School of Fine Arts.

“That has helped me develop as an artist, and also shape my photography and my mission as an artist,” Goldstein said.

Goldstein is also president of the National Art Honor Society, Art Club and DECA; and a member of the SPLA Honor Society, and Speech and Debate.

The “Advanced Visions 14: High School Artists of Excellence” exhibit was up throughout December and much of January, coming to a close yesterday with an award ceremony, during which Goldstein received her High School Artist of Excellence award.