WCAAD Student Doris Yuan Earned Acceptance to Academy of Art University--Illustration

​Academy of Art University San Francisco for Doris Yuan! 

​Doris Yuan is a very hard working and talented student, which I have had the privilege of teaching while she studied at West California Academy of Art and Design. Tenacious, adaptable, and imaginative, are some of the words that come to mind when I think of Doris. 

​Her enthusiasm to learn and to create rich surrealist pictures are both impressive and admired, not just by me, but her classmates as well.  

​During her time here at West California Academy of Art and Design, Doris displayed qualities that would make any student successful. She had many ideas brewing in her head which made teaching easier. Together we discussed many options, and it was a pleasure to see her be self-reliant and headstrong. She displayed creativity and hardworking skills that are sure to take her far in life, as a young adult, student, and artist. 

I felt she was one of few students who could take on an ambitious project and finish with fruition. She painted created installation art and tried assemblage among many other media using many methods to achieve her personal voice through her portfolio.

​Doris has several strengths, from my observations, her greatest ability is to work from an analytical standpoint and to experiment with multi-media

​She took experience transforming abstract ideas into visual translations. She can design with ease. She has a high level of energy and has sacrificed all her time creating and experimenting in art in and outside the classroom. Doris always invests hours on her projects or helping other students by example and technique. 

​She loved playing with toys as she saw their potential for creating art. Through this process and conversations we discussed a history of this practice from works such as Lyonel Feininger, City at the Edge of the World (1925–55), Alma Siedhoff-Buscher, Small Ship-Building Game (1923), Paul Klee, “Puppets” (1916–25), Joaquín Torres-García, “Juguetes Transformables” (ca. 1917–30), Renate Müller, “Therapeutic Toys” (1960s–present), Alexander Calder, Circus (1926–31), Pablo Picasso, Petit Cheval (ca. 1960)to even  their contemporary Mike Kelley. 

​I believe this young artist will be willing to discover various paths and there is room for full discovery. We are happy to have worked with her and we will see what the world holds for her. Getting to know Doris and the ability to watch her understand her own work was satisfying. 

​(By Omar Gallegos, WCAAD Vice Principal and Director of Education)