Claire Hannon is one of those rare individuals who after deriving inspiration from a particular piece of artwork can then go about creating an exceptional work of her own.
A Huntington High School senior, Ms. Hannon is one of the metropolitan area’s top young artists. Her exquisite Enteroctopus is among just 84 pieces chosen from 387 submissions from 56 high schools for this year’s Long Island’s Best Young Artists exhibit now running at the Heckscher Museum of Art.
Huntington senior Claire Hannon.
Ms. Hannon captured an Achievement Award in Drawing during last Saturday night’s opening reception, which drew a crowd numbering in the hundreds.
“I was inspired by illustrator Frederic Remington’s The Bronco Buster's sense of movement, dynamics and detail,” said Ms. Hannon in her artist’s statement that accompanies the piece at the Heckscher Museum. “The dynamic composition of a cowboy on a bucking horse inspired me to create this piece of a creature in movement. This led me to choose to draw an octopus because its movements are incredibly bold and fluid. What also drew me to Frederic Remington’s piece was his impeccable use of detail. The way Remington sculpted each muscle in the bronco and fold in the cowboy’s clothing challenged me to create a piece with a lot of focus on little details as well; using fine tipped pens as my medium. Like creating a cast, pens enabled me to capture subtle details such as each bump and spike on the octopus’s skin.”
The teenager has worked closely with Huntington High School art teacher Kristin Singer. With her work now on exhibit at the Heckscher Museum, Ms. Hannon has brought her talents to a whole new level.