2025 Nominees
Sorted alphabetically by student name.
Surrounded by Silence (Graphite and Colored Pencil)
My art piece shows the vision of what I imagine as tranquility or peace. I tried to think of what complete silence looks like to me. The feeling of when you are calm and in harmony with yourself and your mind. tranquility is a small yet powerful word and I wanted to show that through my art.
Si Robertson (Pencil)
In this crazy world we live in, art is the solace in which one can relax and forget about the cares of the day, letting ink and imagination flow. Uncle Si Robertson is the comic relief of Duck Dynasty, the Robertson family, and the watching world. In honor of this common factor between Uncle Si and art, I combined the two in a portrait as a reminder that sometimes all we need is a Si of relief. That’s what I always say, Jack!
Look Back at Me (Graphite)
Portraits are an intimate moment between the art and the viewer, and what is even more vulnerable is staring at yourself stare back at you. Faces are unique, and I enjoy replicating each feature of a person’s expression and emotion frozen in time; unwavering and still. With this piece, I pushed the limits further with graphite and it strengthened me as an artist by carefully forming the nuances in values, texture, and the features of my own face in hopes to engage the viewer.
Cinderella's Escape (Colored Pencil)
I created this piece based on a scene from one of my favorite Disney movies, Cinderella. My piece was created using colored pencil on illustration board and layered to create a forced perspective 3-dimensional style
Are You The Impact? (Watercolor Paint)
My artwork is meant to represent the 1920’s, when a surge of important events occurred, events that would impact the entire history of the United States and the world. Phones, radios, television, and most of your household appliances were invented. The focus on my artwork is to ask the question, “Are you the Impact?.” What can you do to leave your footprint on the world for better, or for worse
A Portrait of Music (Graphite)
This art piece captures portraits of musicians that have inspired me and brought me joy through my life. I have always been artistically inclined, and that includes music. Music has always been a big part of my life, and I can’t imagine living without it. This piece shows various portraits of just a few of my current favorite Korean artists.
Transmutation (Ceramic)
My piece depicts a ceramic human head being pulled at by two hands. I wanted my piece to represent the struggle of being molded by your surroundings. As you look at my piece, I’d like you to think about who the hands belong to. Are they the hands of someone trying to sculpt the figure, or do they belong to the person being molded, trying to shape themselves?
Faces of The Internet (Acrylic)
I wanted to create a piece that represented the fleeting feelings that social media creates. Not only are these feelings quick to leave but they also happen simultaneously making you feel stuck and constrained in the dark reality of social media. The feathery colors around the portraits are there to represent the different feelings and the wire around the figure in the middle is there to emphasize feeling tied down and stuck.
Best Friends (Digital)
The piece in which I am entering is a digital art piece that was made on a
tablet.
Bruno (Charcoal and Graphite)
For my art piece, I drew my pet ferret Bruno. Ferrets have been my best friends ever since I was a child. After the passing of my first ferret, I valued every second I’ve had with them. You don’t realize how the little things that would annoy you, turn into the things you miss the most and linger for. I drew my pet Bruno because he has guided me through hard times and has created a special bond in our household.
No Evil. (Oil Pastel)
Visually inspired by the three wise monkeys. The hands covering the woman’s eyes, ears, and mouth represents women’s oppression and discrimination. How women are ignored, harassed, objectified, and silenced around the world.
Roots (Pencil)
This piece is inspired by me and all the extraordinary black women I know personally that have made a great impact on my life. I wanted to create an artwork that shows how sacred the love, bond, and connection that women specifically black women have with one another. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a bond created by blood, friendship, or under other circumstances they are precious rooting us together all the same.
Nothing is Perfect (Charcoal on Cardboard)
I made this self portrait to represent that not everything is perfect which can be shown with the rough edges and creases in the cardboard. I have always put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect especially in art and when this art assignment was presented in my drawing class, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to express those feelings through one of my projects. I knew that I could draw and make a pretty good portrait but I wanted it to have a message connected to it so I tore up the edges and put holes in it to show that no matter how good something looks, doesn’t mean it’s perfect and so there shouldn’t be so much pressure put on people to be that way.
A Smile Without Cause (Paper Mache and Arcylic)
A Mask inspired by venetian carnival masks, as well ad Roman gladiator helmets. During carnival, masks allowed venetians to escape the rules of hierarchy. The poor could be rich, the sad could be happy and the ugly could live in a world of beauty
Eye see the Light (Colored Pencil)
My work is showcasing my love for colored pencils and realistic drawings and contrasting it with the black paper. This piece is a drawing of my own eye using the reference of a photo that I took of my eye in the sun in order to represent how the light effects my eye literally but also how light effects everything that I see
Princess Diana (Graphite, Colored Pencil, Paint)
“In loving honor and memory of Diane Dempsey. Worlds best grandma!
“The tree bark will heal
The shards of glass will go unseen
The grass will re-grow
The tire marks will fade away
As a family grieves the unexpected loss…
As the adrenaline subsides, nameless eyes are scarred into memory.” (Kendra Lifer)
“Life Goes On” (John Mellencamp)
Ocean Sunset (Acrylic)
I typically work with graphite and decided to try painting a landscape. I worked for several weeks trying to create the sunset and water. I was amazed to find out there were so many different colors when I was mixing to create them. When I look at my finished painting I feel calm and joyful. I hope that those that view my painting also feel that.
Tough Crowd (Acrylic)
Tough Crowd represents my struggle with making friends; this is displayed by the stuffed animals, for it shows my longing to have people, but lacking the ability. There is a spot on the table dedicated to the viewer — this is meant to portray my deep desire of inviting people in. I used pearlescent paint throughout the work because I appreciate how the paint looks different at all angles, mirroring the fact that people are the same way, and we just need to see them at the right angle to see them shine
I also incorporated a lot of dandelions through this painting. Most view them as just weeds, but I see them as childhood wishes, lost in adulthood. I placed them within this painting because I remember blowing many dandelions throughout my lawn as a young girl, wishing for friends, for which my father would then yell at me for spreading weeds in his grass.
The Secret Garden (Graphite)
I created The Secret Garden using graphite and watercolor paper it is 17″ by 13″. I was inspired to create this work because it is based off of my favorite childhood book, The Secret Garden by Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett.
Painting Called Purple (Acrylic)
I make these things called “Flower People”, they are my cartoonish and colorful creations. Though I often don’t follow a plan, I realize somewhere within that I crave structure. These people are usually used for any experimental art I create. Who I am as an artist is someone who denies stability while clinging to it through art when it all comes together.
Hidden Symphony (Mixed Media)
Hidden Symphony is a gramophone built from cardboard and vacuum tubes, with a hidden world inside
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