Kimoto adding festive lights to one of her art projects.
December Artist of the Month: Jaclyn Kimoto
Unlike many other seniors who question the daunting years after high school, Jaclyn Kimoto has her future planned out.
Captivated by the arts since age six, raw passion has led her from playing the “Flight of the Bumblebee” on the piano, to crafting Japanese paper origami, and even to spontaneously baking cookies for classmates and friends.
Kimoto is fascinated by the popular Netflix show, “Stranger Things.” However, unlike other teenagers who watch the show to relax on a weekend, Kimoto is intrigued by the supernatural noises that make Stranger Things eerie and haunting.
“They use different animal noises to create a sound—something creepy,” said Kimoto. “It creates a kind of ambiance. It’s really cool.”
She aspires to pursue her passion and become an audio engineer just like her father. However, her love for the arts connects even further down her family line. Her mother is a singer, her grandmother sketches landscapes, and many of her other relatives are musicians.
“I’ve just been brought up with music around me,” said Kimoto. “Synesthesia is when a person can taste a color and their senses are mixed. You put yourself in the art and you can really see your true colors.”
Kimoto’s unique ethnic culture also influences her art.
Because her mother is Chinese and her father is Japanese, Kimoto says, “I’m a weird half and half,. It’s like you’re being pulled from side to side.”
“From a historical standpoint, Japanese and Chinese people hate each other, so it’s weird that I exist,” said Kimoto. “I get to pull from Japanese and Chinese culture and intermingle them.”
Kimoto combines her love of paper origami, influenced by Japanese culture, and her Chinese background to craft a Chinese-style dragon with Japanese paper. Kimoto also makes origami out of old music books, combining both her love of music and Japanese culture.
Since freshman year, Kimoto has been using her crafty talents to bake cookies for her classmates.
“Three weeks in, I started bringing cookies and people were confused,” said Kimoto. “But I kept on bringing them every Friday and they really made people happy.”
Now that Kimoto is a senior, busy filling out college applications and studying for AP/IB classes, she tries to bake whenever she has time.
From baking lace cookies to brownie cookies to chocolate chip, Kimoto loves to see people smile and have something to look forward to. After high school, Kimoto hopes to continue using her artistic talents to help other people.
“Making peoples’ days better is something I want to encourage,” Kimoto said. “I like looking at things and finding a deeper story.”
