Elizabeth Ruggiero is one of the top teen artists ... in the world!

To Elizabeth Ruggiero, making art is the act of noticing — of taking in the intricacies of everyday surroundings that others often dismiss, and giving them new life on canvas.

Her eye for detail and composition earned her the rare perfect score on her AP Drawing exam — which is only achieved by around 1 percent of students in the entire world.

“Trying to capture a moment of life in art is something that is really important to me,” said Ruggiero, a senior at East Rockaway High School. “I find it really interesting that art can convey a perspective that you can’t necessarily express in words.”

A perfect score on the AP Drawing exam is no small feat. Its rarity is representative of the exceptional level of skill and artistry that it requires from students. Ruggiero is such a student — a deep-diver into human emotion and memory, with the technical talent to back it up. She plans a lifetime as an artist, and East Rockaway’s art program is largely to thank.

“I think I was put in this art room for a reason,” Ruggiero said. “I was put in these classes for a reason. I have these amazing teachers and influences and I am forever grateful to those people.

I have so much gratitude for everybody in my life because my art wouldn’t be there without them. Truly.”

Ruggiero has been making art her whole life, but started to get more serious in 10th grade. She became more conscientious of what she was creating and fell in love with using unexpected colors to create realistic oil paint portraits.

“It’s been honestly a pleasure to watch her transform her skills, her understanding of technique and everything that goes into it,” said Kelly Cabasso, who alongside Kristie Galante have been Ruggieros’ art teachers for 5 years. “She’s just totally taken that to the next level.”

Cabasso said Ruggiero feels things deeply, and in turn, creates art that makes others feel deeply. Ruggiero’s creations are visceral, emotional, and possess a singular power to make the viewer feel fondness and nostalgia for a memory that is not their own. 

“You can’t look at her work and not feel some connection to it,” Cabasso said. “It’s tangible. Her pieces make you feel something — a physical reaction.”

The AP exam is a “sustained investigation” into a topic of the artists’ choosing. Ruggiero’s portfolio is an exploration of the different forms of love in her life, and how they can be seen through the lens of ancient Greek concepts of love.

Each piece is unique — a blurry childhood memory, a woman curled up with a cat, a couple studying together. But they’re all connected by the common thread of love, whether that’s “eros,” romantic love; “storge,” familiar love; “pragma,” enduring love; or “philautia,” self-love.

Ruggiero captured these moments of love in her own life, preserving them beyond memory. It also gives her the special gift of looking back.

“Love changes, it’s constantly changing,” Ruggiero said. “I think every piece and every person in that portfolio has changed. Everything has changed. And I think capturing it in the portfolio means so much to me. It’s like a moment of time, seen through my perspective that only I could see.”

Where professional artists typically have as much time as they need to create their work, Ruggiero’s portfolio was created in under a year — all while balancing her other coursework and extracurricular activities. She dove deep into her own feelings and memories to create art that is extremely personal, while also somehow feeling universal. Her months of hard work appear on the canvas.

To see more of Ruggiero’s work, visit her art Instagram @eliizabug.