jrowe

The Cat

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In my artwork, I incorporated the world throughout the vision of a black cat. The people looking out of the art piece are the viewers that can only see half of a man’s body, focusing only on the cat and the butterfly. Since we cannot see much of the man, we look directly at them. I wanted to demonstrate a moment that I have a lof in my life where I just feel tired, or too stressed to focus on the small things of life, which is what the black cat and the butterfly show; they demonstrate the beauty on the small things in life, that sometimes can go unnoticed by others since we tend to stress ourselves by focusing only on the future and on what we need to work on. What makes me get through the rough and stressful times is simply do like the black cat, which is look at the small things that life provides us, and just for a minute stop to appreciate them. This is what gives me hope and power to keep going.

Relief for the Chained

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My painting shows the injustice within the world and a dove is blooming out of the center of the earth. People are kind people as long as we try to be. Sadly, colored people are generally oppressed which is why the arms supporting the earth is a brown color. The shards of the earth is also cracking and falling towards the ground as seen in the picture. I would like to note that the hands were inspired from the internet. But I did come up with the idea.

Hope Within My Walls

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My visual art is a representation of how I find hope and brightness in today’s events. I feel safe and hopeful within a creative environment. I love to paint and sing along all types of music because they’re platforms that unite all people. It connects us, just like the internet. Because of the pandemic, we seem to find ourself easily hopeless and alone but the internet is a tool that has granted us the ability to connect with all different people. This is why I incorporated all these concepts into one. I wanted to demonstrate how unity and effort leads us to a hopeful and brighter tomorrow.

This is 2020

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Every human being in the year 2020 has felt the wide effects of injustice and hopelessness, and I wanted to write something that I can look look back on if ever we do move forward from 2020.

Not Enough

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Through social media, peers, and ourselves, we often fall into a loop of our appearance, being controlled by our looks and body shape. I often hear people say that they are “not enough” of this and that, which leads to a mindset that is only focused on looks. Adding some elements of self-image, the person that is overall controlling our appearance is ourselves, so I drew a dark image of the girl being controlled. Feeling helpless and trapped as a life-less puppet is what our self-image has come to these days. Through this art piece, I was hoping for at least one person to look at themselves in the mirror and like their appearance without worrying about what others thought of them.

Alive Again

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Since the young age of eleven, mental health has been a large impacter in my life. I didn’t plan on making it to sixteen. That was never my plan. There was no way I would let myself continue living this life full of emotional torment. Something switched this past year in my mind, however. I didn’t see life as this annoyance I had to put up with. I didn’t wake up dreading the fact that I had to get up and start another day. I didn’t see the world as the enemy, myself as a ghastly parasite needing to be exterminated. I found a sense of worth inside me, despite the years of torture I put myself through. The other day I found myself at a moment of complete peace–laying in grass, feeling the blinding sun, cheeks warm, thoughts calmer than the waking dawn. It almost brought me to tears; I didn’t remember the last time I was able to be carefree without experiencing self-deprecative thoughts. Smiling genuinely into the camera, I took a snapshot of this small, but mighty moment. That picture is what inspired me to create this artwork–I wanted to find a sense of closure in myself, and engrave in my mind the exact instant I realized there had been a change. I wove lime green ribbon into my hair to represent the stories that are hidden inside us all, pushed aside due to the stigma of struggle in our society. I’m not going to push those ribbons deep inside my pocket anymore, away from the world to see. I am proud of who I became, and proud of my journey to getting to where I am today–sixteen.

Family is my Hope

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My submission relates to hope because it represents what has helped me and been there for me through the difficult changes this past year. It’s what matters the most to me. Reaching for the green ribbon represents what I keep on going for what gives me motivation to keep on pushing forward. My family is my hope, I hope to help my family in all ways possible as I get older.

Seasons of Change

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Like flowers growing back after a hard winter, we will also come back after experiencing the stress of a global pandemic. As flowers represent new beginnings and springtime, the green ribbon represents new hope and the promise of positive change.

#HopeforChange

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The concept of growth and change is a desire to become a better version of yourself. Growth in yourself leads you to new opportunities, opportunities that don’t come about until you grow and change into the person who is ready for them. Also as you grow and evolve, you learn to adjust changes in yourself. Some people never want to change. But change promotes happiness and mental strength. What I drew relates to mental health because taking care of yourself is important. Having confidence, motivation and self love leads you to accomplishing your goals and having a positive mindset. Your mental health is a priority.

Embrace

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“A single, overworked father contemplates his gratitude for his good fortune amid relentless uncertainty, as he whispers to his child: ‘Let compassion always guide you on your journey.’’’