Magnet senior Saffie Laposata remains a prominent figure at NC, holding the position of midfield (29) on NC’s varsity girls’ lacrosse team, Beta club, National Honor Society (NHS), Model United Nations and National Art Honor Society (NAHS). Although Laposata stocks her high school life with a myriad of activities, she keeps free time for one of her passions: art.
“Coming into things late and feeling sort of behind for my age can really be a struggle, but I want people to know that you can start whenever, it doesn’t need to be good, there is no ‘good’ in art. Art is completely relative, and if it’s something you want to do, go into it, do it,” Laposata said.
Laposata’s interest in art piqued in fourth grade, where she recalls reading graphic novels such as “Calvin and Hobbes.” This interest in cartoons influenced Laposata’s own art style, as she loves writing comic strips and drawing expressive features on the faces of characters she creates. Laposata states that she follows an overarching theme of overcoming adversity throughout her work, as the art she views and the music she listens to represent that quality within her own life.
Laposata did not stop her creative potential at just comic strips; instead, she deeply educated herself on art, attending every art class NC offers: Visual Art composition, drawing and painting, Advanced Placement (AP) Art and Design and ceramics. After broadening her horizons, Laposata fell in love with creating animations, 3-Dimensional projects, model art and traditional drawing. In her projects, she incorporates bright colors to provide the viewer with eye-catching images.
Laposata has worked on several unique projects throughout her artistic career, but she specifically enjoyed attending a Kennesaw State University (KSU) art camp focused solely on comic creation. This summer experience helped Laposata grow her collaborative skills, as she wrote and illustrated a comic strip with another artist. Now, working with others exists as a prominent skill of Laposata’s, which she demonstrates every October with NAHS’s Chalktober festival, an event where members of the club draw images on the ground in downtown Marietta.
“I think art is very influential on the world. Art has been around since the beginning of time. Art is how you tell stories, how you influence culture, art is just a big thing all over the world and especially with [Artificial Intelligence] AI, it’s more important now than ever to be artists and fight back. Through my art, I want to give people something to relate to,” Laposata said.
Laposata enjoys sharing her artwork online and has cultivated an online community through her Instagram. Within this community, she observes what projects other artists work on for inspiration and finds peers willing to work on art with her. Both online and in person, she hopes to inspire others to create art the way her mutuals inspire her.
In the future, Laposata plans to attend the University of Georgia (UGA) or KSU, majoring in clinical psychology and minoring in art. Her dream project remains the creation of a graphic novel with a storyline, as she dabbles in storytelling. Altogether, Laposata showcases both artistic talent and academic determination, qualities that will set her future straight.
