Norman Rockwell Museum intern San-Yung Hung with her self-portrait, created for her art class at Miss Hall’s School. Photo ©2013 Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.

Visitors stopping by Norman Rockwell Museum to see this year’s Berkshire County High School Art Show will view over one hundred outstanding works, created in a variety of different medium. One of the highlights is a painted self-portrait that was, in fact, created by one of the Museum’s newest interns. San-Yung Hung is a junior at Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield, and helps out the Museum’s education department along with two other classmates; one of her recent duties was to help staff with the installation of the exhibit.

Ms. Hung’s acrylic painting, titled Mom and I, was created as part of a class assignment, where Miss Hall’s students were instructed to create a self-portrait of themselves holding a significant photo. In a February 8 article in The Berkshire Eagle, reporter Jenn Smith interviewed Hung about her work, which not only includes her image but a photo of her mother, who lives in Taiwan:

“I think my mother is very significant. For me, it’s she who creates me. That’s why I put us together,” Hung said.

The photograph Hung holds in the painting is one she took with her mobile phone of her mother leaning out of a glass window of a restaurant in her home country, Taiwan. In the photo, her mother looks youthful, stylish and smiling in a dark green blouse and flowing reddish hair…

San-Yung Hung, “Mom and I,” 2013. Miss Hall’s School. Acrylic. 12” x 16”. ©San-Yung Hung. All rights reserved.

The student painted herself against a background of bright yellow, making a cheerful contrast to the pink shirt she wears in the portrait. Hung added texture to the painting by creating swirl patterns in the paint with a stick.

At first glance, an observer might wonder why Hung held her mother’s picture in front of her face, so only her eyes show expression through the glasses she wears. Hung says this is intentional. “The position is a blessing,” said Hung, “it is me kissing my mother.”

The young artist also created the work to give as a gift to her mother, who recently celebrated her birthday. She plans to send it to her following the run of the exhibition, that is on view through March 10, 2013. Hung will continue her internship with the Museum through the spring.

“For me, it is really a great honor to be chosen to have art in a real museum. It really encourages me to keep painting, to have that power and enjoyment, and to have confidence.”