BEST IN SHOW
By Chris Wadsworth
In Callia Sun’s stunning oil painting “Let the Light In,” a boy stands wrapped in fabric, a sheer cloth draped over his eyes as he looks up toward a light beaming down from above. As with any good piece of art, the interpretation is open to the observer, but the artist herself had both an uplifting intention – and a more practical one.
“I wanted to show that even in times of hardship and darkness… there is still light to guide us,” said the 17-year-old resident of the Belmont Country Club neighborhood. “I was also inspired by some of the Renaissance paintings. I was really getting into studying how those painters painted cloth, and I wanted to do a piece that would allow me to experiment with that.”
Whatever the reason for her painting, clearly others were struck by it as well. Callia won the top “Best in Show” honor in the 2024 Congressional Art Competition for Virginia’s 10th District.
As a Best in Show winner, Callia’s “Let the Light In” painting is currently on display in the Cannon Tunnel under the U.S. Capitol as part of an exhibit of student art.
For the contest, student artists submit works to the offices of their local congressional representatives, and judges award honors in mediums such as painting, drawing, photography, mixed media and computer graphics.
It wasn’t the first time the senior at Riverside High School in Lansdowne and the Academies of Loudoun had entered. Her first entry, an acrylic on canvas painting titled “Beyond,” won first place in the painting category her freshman year in 2022. A colored pencil self-portrait she submitted in the 2023 competition titled “2016” won second place in the drawing category.
Callia has found this success in no small part thanks to her art teacher at Riverside, Augusta Dadiego, who not only guided Callia’s artistry in class, but also encouraged her students to enter the congressional competition.
“[The contest] allows students a chance to showcase what they feel is their best work,” Dadiego said. “Callia is an exceptional art student and a great artistic leader here at Riverside. In watching her develop her artistry, she has always connected the medium to her ideas. She is willing to take risks. I look forward to seeing what she will create for her next art competition.”
Believe it or not, “Let in the Light” took Callia only about two weeks to paint over the summer, although she worked on it nearly every day. She had a classmate pose similarly to the final painting and took a photo as a reference. This helped guide her as she struggled with the hardest part – getting the cloth, with its draping and shadows, just so.
“It was hard getting the fabric, and especially the translucent part, to look right,” Callia said. “I didn’t want to reveal too much of his eyes, but I also wanted you to be able to see some of it, so it would look like it was see-through.”
This was also her first serious experience with oil paint.
“I usually use acrylic paint, which dries much faster in comparison with oil paint, so it was definitely a new experience because I was adding paint on while it was still wet. It didn’t always turn out the way I hoped it would, but after doing some practice, it got better.”
Callia keeps quite busy away from her easel as well. She swims for her high school, mainly as a sprinter in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races. She’s also a student leader with the Loudoun Community Press, a publishing organization in Loudoun County. Recent projects she has worked on include a podcast, open mic nights and a literary anthology filled with submissions from high schoolers from across Loudoun.
“She’s committed to a lot of things, but she’s always committed fully to them,” said Callia’s sister, Olivia Sun. “Off the top of my head, I can think of very few people who can say they’ve made it to the state championship in swimming and have a painting hung up in the Capitol.”
Callia is already hard at work on her entry for the 2025 congressional competition. She says it will be a self-portrait in acrylic paint.
Beyond that, she’s planning to attend college in the fall and will probably pursue materials science engineering – a field she’s studying at the Academies. She’s currently researching the properties of aluminum.
And she definitely plans to continue with her painting and drawing – hoping to find a life and a school balance between her scientific and creative sides.
“I’m interested in learning more about the intersection between art – the humanities – and also STEM and seeing what sort of projects I can do that combine those two interests of mine,” she said. “But in general, I just hope to be able to find a community of artists wherever I go that I can spend time with and share ideas with.”