I chose this illustration and poem because I believe it reflects my current life. I am serving time, and I am losing precious time with my family, friends and loved ones. I know I am a better person and when I get out I promise myself that I won’t waste anymore of my time. I also don’t want people to look at me like another criminal or problem. I want to be a force of positivity to all people around me.
I chose this painting because it is a quiet and peaceful forest at night. When I am stressed out I think about a forest like my illustration to help calm down and refocus. This empowers me and makes me feel strong and in control of my life. I am used to being around a lot of people and chaos, so thinking of a quiet forest alone gives me comfort.
My entry depicts an Asian-American person holding the Asexual (or Ace) flag in their hand. They have the South Vietnam (or Republic of Vietnam) flag on their cheek, with the words “Representation Matters” at the top, which is also what I’ve named my submission. The theme of February’s prompt is “More than One”, and I feel like this phrase describes my identity perfectly. I am not only a Vietnamese American. I am not only an Asexual. I am all of those things. The idea of representation is a big deal to me, and I want my drawing to empower and inspire other people who relate to my background.
I chose to enter my painting and poem because I want to represent my culture. I am a proud Mexican American woman, who wants to prove I can do anything I choose. Currently, I am in jail and labeled as a bad person. Now I want to prove that I am not a bad person, and I want to prove that I am a good person. I have learned a lot from my stay at Kirby, and now I am willing to do anything to make myself a better person. I know in my heart that I am strong enough to change, and if I put my mind to it I can do anything.
I chose my painting of butterflies because I believe it represents my growth and hopes for a better future. I’ve been struggling my whole life, lost and confused trying to find my way out but I was intercepted by drugs and negative influences. I felt like I was the weakest out of all the caterpillars. My family labeled me as a “troublemaker” as a “follower” as a “useless person”. Currently I am in my cocoon being incarcerated and I am becoming stronger, growing, learning and destroying my labels. I know once I find my purpose and passion in life things will change and I won’t have to rely on drugs or any harmful situations. I am trying to find my myself, getting myself together, maturing, and ready to have a beautiful existence. Once I leave Kirby, I will be like a beautiful butterfly. I will be smarter, stronger, independent and free.
This art piece is basically talking about dreams and reality, the world the genders have come to, and what the community wants to see. I want fortune. As a genderqueer, I demand it. But I am only 15, so I need to have a small voice or I will be too “mean”. There is only a few people who have had a voice in the community. But, I was raised to have a small voice. So I found it better to write my voice. This is my voice, right before your eyes.
For this month’s theme of “More than one”, I wanted to create a piece that expresses my personal experience with being mixed-race, Japanese and African-American. It features a portrait of my father and I during a Japanese holiday called “Shichi-go-san” which takes place in the Fall, with a gradient of Autumn leaves falling in the background. The levels and transitional shades in the gradient symbolizes how mixed-race people shouldn’t be put into limiting, harmful boxes and labeled as one or the other, but instead be acknowledged as both, or “More than one.”
Growing up, the number of Chinese kids at my school could be counted on one hand. I knew I was different, but I yearned so badly to conform. I refused to learn Chinese writing, I brought exclusively “American” food for lunch, and I never ever spoke a word of Mandarin in front of my elementary classmates. It wasn’t until my family moved to where we are now, where the Asian population accounts for a quarter of my school’s population, did I learn to accept and celebrate my family’s culture. My new friends were actually interested in Chinese culture, shared parts of their own culture, and helped me realize that being Chinese-American was nothing to be ashamed of. There have also been many Chinese and Asian community leaders that I met throughout my community involvement, showcasing that the stereotypically “meek” race is capable of being strong leaders. As a leader on multiple fronts myself, their work is very inspiring. The result of these experiences is that, I have grown an air of confidence in proclaiming that I am a Chinese-American girl. This year, at my senior prom, I will don a traditional Chinese qipao, which I have portrayed myself wearing in my painting. Girls before me inspired me to obtain the traditional garb, and hopefully, my dress this year will inspire other young girls to flaunt their own traditions in the future. The Asian community has pushed me to be unapologetically Chinese, with the security of an entire community behind me. And so unlike Mulan, when I look into the mirror, I know exactly who that girl staring back at me is; an unwavering Chinese-American who is proud to be “more than one”.
I created this poem because there are so many labels and everyone is constantly labeling each other. I want people to know that even though people can can label them, they don’t have to be that label. I believe everyone can change like myself. Growing up people always labeled me as a bad person, getting in trouble and failing in school. Now I am a much better person, staying out of trouble and getting “A’s” and “B’s” in school.
My submission relates to the required criteria because I start with a simple drum beat and add more to make it sound like a whole song/riff and then I have captions that say just like adding more than one sound to make a beat completely different. You can be more than one friend, son/daughter, or somebody that helps others in need to make them feel like they are more than one.