Hanging in RBHS’s photography display cases, a question is posed in patchwork, colorful text: ‘How does mysticism appear in everyday life?’ Through dreamy, vivid photos, assorted artifacts and painted masks, RBHS senior Haneen Gadban answers these questions in her photography portfolio, evoking a dream-like, alternate reality.

As an avid artist and photographer, Gadban has been involved in RBHS’s art program  since freshman year. Currently taking Photography 2 and AP art, she describes how she decided to take art, how taking classes at RBHS has affected her trajectory regarding art, how she has tackled the question in her portfolio, what she aims to do in the future and her advice for aspiring artists.

Q: How long have you been doing art?

A: “Literally forever. They say every child’s born an artist, but [for] some of them, once they grow up, that kind of goes away. I think I’m one of those people who’s just always had that. Everyone draws when they’re a kid, but I just kind of stuck [with] it.”

Q: You’ve taken Art Foundations, Studio Art and AP Art at RBHS. How did those classes work?

A: “We have a lot of freedom. I think Art Foundations was more [based around that] ‘there are these concepts, you have to know how to shade, and you have to know how to do these certain things.’ But with Studio Art and AP Art, there’s a lot more freedom where you can just choose a lot of what you want to do.”

Q: How do you think [art classes] have helped you on your journey as an artist?

A: “I definitely think that in general, it’s forced me to be more creative. I know that sounds like ‘Oh, you’re an artist, obviously you’re creative,’ but for me, [even] when I like to paint and when I like to create, I have a lot of trouble sometimes creating my own concepts. I think this year has definitely forced me to create my own ideas. I think that can definitely be translated into other places in my life as well.”

Q: What’s an example of something that you’ve made in one of those classes?

A: “I honestly mostly do paintings. But one thing that I did that was new was I made a self-portrait out of soft pastels. It’s actually in the display case.”

Q: What was the process [on] deciding to take art classes? 

A: “I took art for two  years in a row, and then I got kind of tired of it. But then, I think junior year I decided that since [senior year] is my last year, I have room for fun classes again, and I thought I’d give AP Art another try. What really made me want to choose AP Art is the fact that it gives you a GPA boost. […] It’s not technically [an] AP just because AP Art 2 is when you do your portfolio, and you submit it [to] get that AP score. But AP Art 1 is really just a preparatory class. So I thought, ‘Oh, so it’s kind of easier than the actual class, but you also get a GPA boost. That’s very cool.”

Q: From what I understand, you take a couple of AP classes. How is it like balancing these different classes?

A: “I think for this year, I’ve had an easier time balancing those because the only hard class that I really consider is AP Calc. And then whenever I feel burnt out, my AP art class is more like a reward. A reward to paint. I think in the past, I’ve had a harder time balancing that. I mean I made it, but I think I just kind of forced myself to work through it.”

Q: I wanted to touch more on your [photography] portfolio in the hallway. Can you tell me more about your portfolio and mysticism? 

A: “I’m not really sure how to exactly explain it because I feel like I’ve always been attracted to that kind of spooky, mysterious vibe, you know? I think that […] in the beginning of the year, we had to brainstorm ideas that we wanted before we created that idea. And I found that a lot of my ideas had a lot of Halloween [elements] and all these things that all went under mysticism. So I just like to keep that [aesthetic], especially [with] colors. I think you’ll find that a lot of my pieces have a lot of color just because I like to mess around with color.”

Q: I want to shift over to your future goals. From what I know, you’re planning to go into college. Do you have a major in mind?

A: “I’ll be majoring in industrial engineering. Ever since I was really young, I would say, ‘Oh yeah, I want to be an engineer.’ I knew how broad that term was, so I had to narrow it down. I chose industrial engineering just because in my English class I had to research a major, and I looked into industrial engineering, and I found that it has a lot of opportunities, and it’s so versatile. There’s [many] things that you can do with it. Once I have more freedom, I do want to look into doing more [and] going into more creative fields because you can definitely do that with industrial engineering. You can go into more creative art fields, and that’s kind of what I want to do.”

Q: How do you plan to continue art in the future?

A: “I’ve always had a dream of having my own art studio and […] having cameras, easels and paintings. So I kind of want it to be a hobby. And if I can one day incorporate that into my career, I think that’d be very cool. I’ve looked into product design where basically, in my Intro to Engineering Design class, we had to do 3D [computer aided] design. I think that’s definitely something that I’m looking forward to do[ing]. That’s something that I’ll be doing a lot as an engineer, so I’m looking forward to that.”

Q: What’s your advice for aspiring artists?

A: “I feel like there’s a certain expectation to have a certain level of creativity. Don’t be afraid to look at others for help, to find your own style [or] try new things. For the longest time, I thought I would hate oil paint, but I did it for the first time this year and I [now] love it. Try new things. Don’t be afraid to look at others for help.”

Q: What’s your advice for [those entering a new grade]?

A: “I think the more you grow, the more you realize that high school really isn’t scary. […] I used to be scared of [being a] ‘geeky art kid,’ you know what I mean? I really wanted to do theater tech, but I just didn’t. So I think if there’s something that you’re wanting to do, don’t be scared of how you’re going to be perceived because that’s a really stupid reason. You’re going to find your people no matter what you go into. And you have a lot of supplies, a lot of resources and a lot of people around you. So take advantage of that.”