By Ansley Keane ’23
Staff Writer
Art has been a feature of Skylar Hou ’22’s life since they were a child.
“Drawing has been such an important part of my life since I could remember,” Hou said. “I got my first digital camera when I was 8.”
For Hou, art has personal meaning. “Mostly, I draw and take pictures just to make memories last,” they said. “I have a sketchbook with me all the time so that I [can] draw things whenever I want. Sometimes it is a scene that makes me feel happy, sometimes it’s just a tiny random object, like a soda can. In the past two years at Mount Holyoke, I [have taken] so many pictures and I created a scrapbook and lots of art projects of the memories.”
Hou is a psychology and education and French double major, and an active member of the Mount Holyoke community. Many of their drawings and photographs are inspired by their experiences as a Mount Holyoke student. In addition to creating art in their spare time, Hou is a student digital content assistant for the Office of Communications.
“I work with an amazing supervisor, Ali, and a group of talented MHC students to create content [for the Office of Communications],” they explained. “I do mostly photography and some art for [the Mount Holyoke Instagram] account and sometimes the school website so that more people can know about our community.”
Hou also noted that they are a Chinese language assistant, a French tutor and “a student assistant at the ESOL program that strives to make Mount Holyoke a more language-diverse community.”
“I have never thought about making a career out of [art],” Hou said. In Hou’s perspective, creating art is not something stressful or forced. “Art is just a way for me to express my feelings and have fun. I do not want to have deadlines or textbooks when it comes to making art. I enjoy how I can do whatever I want whenever I feel like it. Sometimes I make a whole series of drawings in one day and sometimes I could even forget that I [can] draw,” they said.
In addition to creating art for themself, Hou’s art connects them to the people in their life. “I use art to express my love to the people around me,” they said. “I am good at expressing my feelings with words, but when it comes to friends and other people I love, I just feel words are not enough.”
Hou explained that they create personalized art to give to their friends as birthday and holiday gifts. One of these customized gifts was an activity book for their friend’s birthday. “There were Jorge Connect the Dots, Pearsons Hall coloring pages [and a] finding Waldo [challenge in the activity book],” Hou noted.
Creating art for family and friends is not only a wonderful way to express their love to the people they care about, but also a positive thing for Hou individually. “I enjoy doing these projects so much because they make me think about all the things we have gone through, and I also genuinely love seeing my friends’ face[s] when they get a personalized present,” Hou said.
Being a Mount Holyoke student has been a great source of inspiration for Hou. “Almost all of my art and designs are about Mount Holyoke since 2018. I remember my first MHC artwork was a drawing of me riding a flying pegasus. I drew that the week I got the acceptance letter from Mount Holyoke,” Hou shared.
They posted their flying pegasus drawing on Instagram, where it caught the attention of the College and was featured on the @mtholyoke Instagram account. Sharing that drawing immersed Hou in the Mount Holyoke community. “Many alums and students reached out to me and welcomed me to the community. I was so happy to get those messages and immediately felt [like I] belonged [at] the school,” Hou said. Hou noted that since they have been a college student, they have developed their own unique drawing and photography style. “I feel so happy and loved [in] this community all the time [and] that makes me want to record every second of my life and inspires me to do those drawings and take those pictures,” they shared.
For anyone who is just beginning to create art or do photography, Hou advises they should “have fun with it and know that there is no right [or] wrong [way to do it]. … The most important thing about art is to make yourself happy and to make your voice [heard]. Don’t let the techniques and theories stop you, just follow your intuition and feelings. Everyone is a good artist,” Hou added.
The process of creating art is what Hou loves most. “Especially when I create artwork about my friends and about MHC. I feel like I [am] reliving the moment again and putting all my happiness into the work,” Hou said. Despite being a busy college student, Hou has managed to find the time to engage in art and stay connected to their loved ones and the Mount Holyoke community through their passion for recording memories and expressing themself through art.