Entries and artist statements in the Visual Arts category for the 2024 Reflections contest sponsored by Adams Middle School PTSA. The entry that receives the Award of Excellence advances to the next round. Click here to return to the 2024 Gallery main page.
My artwork is a drawing of a woman looking in the mirror. Her reflection is made up of sentences. The sentences talk about imperfections and how there is nothing wrong with them. I have a quote at the top of the page about how the word imperfect spells I'm perfect. I included this in the piece because I want people to remember this. In today's society teens and young adults are focusing on their imperfections a lot and I want this art to convey the message that imperfections are okay and we need to accept them.
This is Olivia. She is a dancer who is in the middle of her routine and has realized all of the things she is doing wrong but she knows that doing these things won’t make her worse but just improve her. So Olivia keeps going and enjoys dancing. The puzzle pieces that are misplaced are her imperfections that she notices. But these things are fine because the rest of her is as perfect as can be. Thus Olivia teaches herself that those little things are not important and that it's over all that she did so good.
Beauty comes in all forms, patterns, colors, shapes, and sizes. The woman in this piece of art with numerous colors and irregular patterns represents how beauty is not perfect. Beauty is filled with imperfections, yet she is unique and perfect in her own way.
My piece of artwork captures a moment of exception. I created a sculpture of two friends hugging, one friend with a look of disappointment in themselves, the other with a look of a feeling you can't describe; a look that says, "I may never truly understand what you are going through, but either way, I'll be there." No matter what perspective you find yourself seeing when you're in this situation, everyone can admit that they have experienced this touching moment of heart-to-heart.
Many people try to mask their insecurities by dreaming of perfection. However, the meaning of this illustration is that embracing these insecurities makes people more valuable than perfection. The beautiful flowers in the painting represent insecurities, and that their insecurities make them more beautiful. The flowers in the drawing are marigolds and the meaning for this flower is “Happiness must come”. Similarly, accepting your insecurities also brings happiness. People try to cover up their insecurities but expressing them make them their true selves, love themselves, and it becomes their beautiful flowers.
This piece, titled, “We All Shine,” was created because of this year’s theme, “Accepting Imperfection,” and based on some of my experiences. The four windows on the right wall, represents us, as human beings. There are cracks in each of the different shaped windows, symbolizing our trauma, the good or bad experiences each of us have to go through. Their different shapes and sizes show how in the end, even though we all have cracks, the windows still serve the same purpose, which is letting light shine through.
The most important part of improving in whatever skill is accepting imperfection. That way, you can see how you can improve or fix those mistakes. I tried to represent this by creating a scrunched up ball of digital art, each piece being very similar. The artist who created theses pieces is very upset or feels bad about their skills, judging by the fact that they scrunched up all their art, but doesn't take the time to accept imperfection and see how they can improve, as shown by the art barely having any difference besides color.
This drawing is inspired by a story I wrote about having “cracks” in your life. These cracks represent your imperfections, and it’s hard to get rid of them. But it’s easier to accept these imperfections rather than pretending they don’t exist. By pretending they don’t exist, you’re just hurting yourself. It’s easier to accept these imperfections, and move on. No one is perfect, we all have our own cracks in life. But don’t stress out about it, we’re all human after all.
My art shows a girl showing love towards her own reflection to show that she has fully accepted herself following the theme of self acceptance.
This drawing shows how people can be different in so many ways. Some have disabilities and some don't. Everyone has their own problems or imperfections.
My painting is showing how the painter created a perfect painting but ruined it with some paint splatters and a marker. The painter tried to work around it but her friend showed her that there was a better way and that her painting was beautiful the way it was. Her friend showed her that even with the messy painting her painting was still a work of art and that she just had to accept that it was imperfectly perfect.
My artwork displays a pearl, which fun fact can only truly be perfect if made artificially. This is because pearls take things around the seafloor-like rocks and turn them into these incredible pieces of art. A pearl spends hundreds of years perfecting the rock, it will never be truly perfect and will have jagged edges. I used the clam as a metaphor for the people all around the world who are learning to accept their imperfections, and like the rocks, turn them into a beautiful aspect of their lives like the imperfections that surround the pearl.
This art piece reveals how everyone isn't born to be perfect. Everyone has their own unique imperfections and we should understand that this is normal. I hope this artwork will be able to help other students accept who they are and realize how everyone isn't perfect and have their own uniqueness.
The theme “Accepting Imperfections” inspired me to make this art piece called, “Why the Masks?”. This piece represents how I question why people hide their imperfections by wearing masks. Some wear masks to fake sympathy, while others mock or judge because of peer pressure. The girl in the piece who wears the vibrant mask symbolizes how people fake emotions to cover their insecurities. Her mask is removable allowing others to see her true emotions and pain. Still, I wonder why people put on these “masks” because the things we’re covering up actually make us unique, implying “Why the Masks?”
The theme “Accepting Imperfections” means to accept yourself for who you are and to not let anyone judge you; love yourself, nurture yourself. This theme inspired me to create this piece of artwork because self care is important in this age of social media and metal heath awareness. Just like plants, we need to regularly “water” ourselves by slowing down, taking care of ourselves, and living in the present. We need to listen to our needs, prioritize creating real connections, be patient with ourselves, and celebrate our accomplishments. If we do all these things, we can bloom.
