It’s not every day a high school artist sees their work hanging alongside pieces by professionals.
But Vivian Auxier is in that world. The Milford High senior was selected by MHS art teacher and member of the Burkholder Project Mindy Burton as part of the Artists Choosing Artists show in January.
“It’s pretty crazy. I was shocked,” Auxier said.
Burton is an associate artist at the Burkholder, located in the Haymarket in Lincoln, and has work there all year. This show allows the members to choose another artist to show with.
Auxier likes to draw people and faces but tries to make them weird, using a lot of color and exaggeration. Her favorite colors are chartreuse green and reddish-orange. One of her pieces uses both, which clash.
“I like it a lot,” Auxier said with a grin.
She described her style as “definitely weird and colorful.”
She said choosing pieces for the show was not an easy thing.
“I’m very critical of my work,” she said. “I’m very creative - it showcases who I am.”
“When she did that piece - the portrait was a class assignment - I knew which I would pick,” Burton said.
Auxier learned she’d been chosen right before Christmas break and picked three faces to submit. She attended the show opening in January.
Burton also has a piece hanging with Auxier’s trio. She does more abstract and color pieces based on nature.
She described her style as fun and colorful, “based on nature but abstract.” She used mixed media with more fiber pieces.
“I paint on fiber,” she said. “I do hand stitching and knots.”
She likes the 3D surface of a fiber piece and enjoys working with wool and felt. She tries to find other items to go with the fiber and said her painting includes lots of details.
Auxier likes using ink and both acrylic markers and acrylic paint for her work but hates colored pencils. She won a competition in ninth grade with a watercolor painting. She said she’d like to try sculpting, which is a medium she hasn’t worked in yet.
She wants to be an art teacher and plans to study either at the University of Nebraska at Omaha or in Colorado.
“I want to help kids grow their art,” she said.
While she would prefer teaching high school students, she said “it would be cool to teach the basics” to younger students.
Auxier is the president of the Milford High Art Club and has worked with elementary students on different projects.
