Abby Glenn
Cape Henry Collegiate School
Mr. Warden

A Grasp for Freedom

The piece I have drawn represents a prisoner who had been grasping barbed wire which had turned into a group of birds. The barbed wire is penetrating the prisoner’s arm and the Swastika seen is also made out of shredded barbed wire. The nails of this victim have small Swastikas embedded within them. The barbed wire slowly evolves into birds which had symbolized freedom, which every prisoner was yearning for. This drawing relates to the topic by showing the viewers that it was an excruciating time for prisoners and their families. 

Gavin Gluckle
Frrank W. Cox High School
Ms. Van Veenhuyzen

Trauma

My piece is a print used to convey a sense of teenaged invincibility coming to an abrupt end. It is inspired by a car crash that I was in recently. The image of the other car coming towards me is something that I will carry for the rest of my life. The warm colors of the scene, and the mustang depict a hunger that comes with youth while the black framing portrays a newly found sense of mortality.

Carly Holmes
King’s Fork High School
Ms. Corrente 

Reach for the Moon

During the Holocaust, people were not able to leave the concentration camps. This piece is showing that people living in the concentration camps were bound by the barbed wired fences. They had to look towards the sky and hope there would be a way to break free from the pain and misery. This was created to inspire people who are going through difficult times to reach for the moon. There is hope for everyone.

Valencia Jenkins
Granby High School
Ms. Taylor-Martin

Come As You Are

Yuhan Jiang *Chairs’ Choice - Senior Visual Arts
Cape Henry Collegiate School
Mr. Warden

Away 

In the painting Away, a gigantic and powerful hand with bloody strings is trying to manipulate a girl, whose hands turn into fire-like power, trying to destroy the strings. The big hand, outlined and shaded by black sharpie, symbolizes the malicious but formidable power of the Nazis, which forms a great contrast with the girl’s thin body. The background is painted with straight, thick, and forceful dashes, emphasizing the intenseness between the girl and the hand. The girl is actually myself. For me, who was born in China and later studied in America, I found the most powerful way to fight racism is to become more forceful yourself, and not be scared by the malice. The girl is not fully manipulated; she at least tried to break away from the strings, even though her power is not as strong and colorful as the fire. Trying to break away from the darkness is the start of winning. 

Kendall Johnson
Frank W. Cox High School
Ms. Van Veenhuyzen

Lend an Ear 

The purpose of this artwork is to exhibit a minimalistic, effortless approach to communication between parties of opposing views. If one were to just listen to the other, a sense of understanding would be easier to achieve. I believe most tragedies are caused by a lack of communication and failure to see the other point of view clearly and with reason. So with this artwork my goal is to express the dire need for elected officials and people in power to listen to each other, try on the other’s shoes, and to lend an ear.

Donovan Kidd
Granby High School
Ms. Taylor-Martin

Abandoned

Cat Lestyan
Cape Henry Collegiate School
Mr. Warden

Heroes of Hope

This piece is meant to portray the image of an angel helping a beaten soul. The angel itself represents others who have experienced the same trauma as being depicted by the scars. They have grown from their experience and therefore earned their wings as a symbol of that growth. They then go reach out to others who have yet to find their wings and are a symbol of hope to those who are in search for justice. The message is that we all have gone through something in our lives whether it be mental or physical (like the Jews during the Holocaust) and we’ve all needed someone to be there to help us through the dark times. 

Yezi Liu *Honorable Mention - Senior Visual Arts

Cape Henry Collegiate School
Mr. Warden 

Wait

In my work Wait, I drew a girl in a dark collective camp who is looking blankly at a direction of dim light from a window. I present her face emerging from the whole darkness with her thin, dried-up hands laying on the window lattice. Her face and hands are the only things visible in this scene, emphasizing an atmosphere of deprivation of identity and immersion in hopelessness. Brown, grey colors and values dominate her face to express her irreversible terrible health conditions as well as her desperation. Her glazed, pale eyes seek the direction of weak light as she is waiting for something that drags her out of this abyss. She waits for everything that can give her freedom from this moldy jail.