Estiven Segovia’s Artwork Chosen for LI’s Best Exhibit

Estiven Segovia Ticas is a talented artist and a great student, too. He’s excelling in Huntington High School teacher Kasmira Mohanty’s advanced computer graphics class. The teenager recently had one of his pieces accepted into the Heckscher Museum’s Long Island’s Best exhibit later this spring

“This annual juried exhibition features extraordinary works of art created by Long Island high school students from across Nassau and Suffolk counties” according to the museum’s website. “All student artwork was inspired by work exhibited in the Museum during the 2023/24 school year.

Mr. Segovia was inspired by “Mama Taught me Piano and Much More” by artist Robert Carter. “I liked it because the theme centered around family,” he said. “Then I noticed Olafur Eliasson’s ‘Your House.’ Both pieces incorporated the idea of layering and I thought what if I could combine the warmth of family and layer paper. I decided to create a portrait of my abuela (grandma). We loved her a tremendous amount and she is no longer with us. My mom was devastated by her passing. I wanted to do something to help ease my mom’s pain and to honor my abuela who was most kind and caring.”

The junior used Adobe Illustrator software to create the shapes for all of his grandmother’s facial features. “This was difficult to figure out how to illustrate all the different shapes because I would then have to convert the shapes from being 2D to 3D,” he said.

“Once I got a handle on that I separated each shape individually so they could be cut using the new cutting machine in my classroom,” Mr. Segovia said. “Then I layered the shapes using spacers to add depth. I chose to use all white representing my abuela’s pure spirit. Once assembled the lines and shapes became symbolic of all the paths my abuela took during the course of her life and how they continue on through the lives of her descendants.”

The Long Island’s Best Young Artists exhibit will run from March 23 to May 5. Of the 456 pieces of art submitted for the show, only 87 were accepted. Mr. Segovia’s was one of them.