Integrating Meaning and Stylistic Coherence: A Factor–Analytic Study of Artistic Expression in Student Visual Works

This study investigated the structural dimensions and profile patterns of artistic expression in student visual works using expert ratings on seven evaluative indicators. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two latent constructs – Authorial Meaning Integration (symbolic saturation, narrative integration, emotional expressiveness, authorial presence, aesthetic intentionality) and Harmony of Stylistic Form (stylistic coherence, aesthetic orientation) – explaining 72.7% of total variance. The results indicate that youth artistic creativity is organized around interrelated but distinguishable meaning-oriented and stylistic-formal dimensions, rather than a single undifferentiated construct. The prominence of meaning integration highlights the central role of symbolic, narrative, and emotional processes in youth artistic expression, while stylistic harmony reflects the developing organization of formal and perceptual aspects of visual work. Together, the findings provide an empirically grounded and developmentally sensitive framework for understanding youth artistic creativity, emphasizing the dynamic interplay between meaning-making and stylistic organization in visual expression.