#Satayathum
LightNews LightNews
mdstamper.bsky.social
“Stickers” by Zoe Satayathum (American) - Acrylic on hardboard / 2023 - Ohio Governor’s Youth Art Exhibition (Columbus) #WomenInArt #ZoeSatayathum #Satayathum #PortraitPainting #AcrylicPainting #studentArt #womensart #BlueskyArt #ContemporaryArt #artText #art #EmotionalRealism #WomenPaintingWomen
A tight portrait shows a young woman with warm medium skin and long brown hair tied into pigtails with red ribbons. She presses both hands into her cheeks so the palms gently compress her cheeks. One eye is clear and alert while the other is puffy and bruised-looking, with mauve and violet shadowing around the lid and under-eye. Her mouth is closed, lips slightly pursed, the expression suspended between boredom and endurance … more “I’m here” than “I’m fine.” Across the skin, playful stickers interrupt the realism like a second, louder language: a green “A”, a blue “B”, and a yellow “C”; a big yellow smiley face on the forehead; small hearts and flowers; a teardrop sticker under one eye; tiny starbursts; a small white cat face sticker on her nose; and a red apple near the chin. The background is soft pink streaked with vertical drips of yellows, greens, blues, and lilacs sliding downward. The sitter’s white sleeve is built from thick, creamy strokes. The overall effect is a body rendered with care, and then “decorated” with symbols that insist on being read. At the time, high school artist Zoe Satayathum shared, “I love to express emotions and feelings in my art that I can’t put into words.” In “Stickers,” the “words” our world recognizes are cute icons, grade letters, and a smiley face while the face carries the emotion those icons can’t contain. The A-B-Cs could be language basics, but on her skin they echo evaluation as if being sorted, ranked, and understood through simple labels. The smiley sits like an expectation to perform happiness while the teardrop and swollen eye refuse that script. Even the hands become symbolic as a visible effort to steady oneself. Satayathum uses childhood imagery as camouflage over something bruised and real. The pastel drips behind the figure like feelings such as time slipping, mood running, or a story leaking through the surface. Satayathum said “There is no correct type of art or style … as long as you follow your passion.”
January 3, 2026 at 1:09 AM