by Aaron Ross, assistant editor
Seniors Emily Harris, Meredith Stromberg and Anjali Yadav, as well as junior Savannah Troy won a contest to have their art put up in the local Bryan hangout The Village Cafe. In February, The Village held a contest accepting submissions for artwork to help raise awareness for bullying victims.
Each of the selected pieces are pictured below, coupled with a description from the artist on how they created the piece and what message they hoped to convey:
“A form of bullying is peer pressure. This piece is about the pressure to conform and how by conforming you’re easily out-shined by others. The girls in the piece are all alike and brain washed by their peers. The squares represent all different types of people who are standing out.”
“This piece is entitled Privation, meaning ‘a state in which things essential to human well-being are scarce or absent.’ I found this to be a fitting title for a piece depicting a teenage girl who finds herself feeling aged and disoriented after years of being bullied and emotionally abused by her peers. I began this piece by using an ink pen to sketch the girl’s profile, hair, and expression. I then used the ink pen to add more detail and shading, particularly around the girl’s eyes, nose, and mouth. When I felt I had captured the girl’s expression. I began to write words around the girl, each signifying a statement that has been said to her by a bully, or a thought the bully has forced the girl to think about herself. I finished the piece by drawing an empty speech bubble rising from the girl’s lips, symbolizing the girl’s silence about her anguish in the presence of those who would otherwise seek to help her.”
“For this piece, I used a variety of media: collages magazine pages, acrylic paint, and Sharpie. To me, the piece represents the struggle of people, especially teens, who do not identify with the gender binary. Within my school, I have witnessed wonderful people be verbally abused because they do not fit into the society-approved box of what a girl or boy should look like. With this art, I am trying to send the Message that no one is obligated to conform, and all people deserve respect.”
“My piece Before Breakfast attempts to capture the essence of someone who has been driven to self-harm and alcoholism resulting from negative social pressure. I wanted to express how grave the outcome of prolonged neglect, hate, and discrimination can be, especially among young society. Often times one will turn to self-harm and alcoholism to cope with adversity. I used a very loose style with fast, powerful brush strokes to express the anger and frustration experienced by those who live this reality. However, I made the decision to use bright and loud colors to add an element of irony to the piece- the colors serve as an interesting juxtaposition to the dark mood and lifestyle.”
“In this piece I wanted to capture a moment in which a young girl breaks free of the cruel words and chaotic images of her life. I began by sketching this girl’s features in charcoal, putting a lot of effort into capturing the girl’s the girls’ serene expression. I later decided the piece needed color to fully reflect the vivid emotion I wanted it to evoke, and decided to glue down and gesso over some magazine clippings. After this, I outlined the girl’s major features in ink and added chalk pastel to her lips, eyes, and face. The end result is a girl enjoying a private moment of freedom in the midst of a routine battle for self acceptance, as is any day in the life of a bullying victim.”
