Nicolette Oleskevich is a Lakewood High School senior whose passion is photography, a talent that is already getting the 18-year-old recognition as she readies for college.
Oleskevich recently won Best in Show for her work entered in the 38th Annual Jeffco Art Exhibition April 27.
Being both a painter and photographer, Oleskevich said she enjoys all forms of expression and is grateful her love could one day be her career.
“I like to shoot out of the ordinary things, but I love photography in general,” Oleskevich said.
Next year Oleskevich will be attending Columbia College in Chicago, which is a nationally known liberal arts institute, she said.
The Jeffco Art Exhibition was the first show Oleskevich had entered in years. Winning such a large prize came as a shock and reassurance of her chosen path, she said.
“This is what I want, it’s what I love,” Oleskevich said.
Other than art, Oleskevich also played softball at Lakewood and on another competitive league, plus tutored at her elementary school.
Choosing Columbia College was partially familiarity, and a feeling that overcame Oleskevich while she visited the campus, she said.
“I have a lot of family in Chicago, but when I visited Columbia, I just knew it was the school I wanted to be at,” Oleskevich said. She added that her cousin will also be attending the college, and the two will be roommates next year.
The main media used in Oleskevich’s prize-winning photo is called liquid light.
This means that the silver emulsion was painted on the cloth using a brush, then exposed in the darkroom like any other silver emulsion printing process of traditional photo, said Andy Yutzy, director of the annual Jeffco Art Exhibition.
“The thing that the judges liked was that there were multiple images produced on one piece, asking the question did she expose the emulsion several times or did she have to keep placing emulsion on after every exposure,” Yutzy said.
The judges told Yutzy they liked the composition and the complexity of the image, he said.
“The multiple images gave it a depth to the piece that was unique from others in the show,” Yutzy said.
Linda Slobodin, Oleskevich’s art teacher at Lakewood, said she was happy she inspired her student’s love for photography.
“I saw her passion for art as a framework for understanding and enhancing her emotional development. I see that in a lot of kids,” Solbodin said.
Oleskevich was open to new ideas when it came to her artwork, which Slobodin said made the process that much more enjoyable.
“She was excited so I just took off with it,” she said. “Art enhances emotions.”
Slobodin encourages students to work through their emotions, especially those who commonly experience angst.
“That validates the program and shows the importance in having it in public schools. It makes it just that much more worth while.” Slobodin said.