Artist Statement

Silenced 

Jaedyn Brady

My painting describes article one from The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, "Everyone is born free and equal," which means everyone should have equal access to education. The girl in my painting is in the dark but silenced. She has no way of sharing her voice, thoughts, or anything. Everyone should have the same rights as everyone else. The tear may just be a tear, but it has a lot of meaning to it. It's the only color other than black and white in this painting, trying to exaggerate the pain.

My art piece is connected to many things but is most related to school segregation and lack of education. The girl in the painting doesn't have freedom of anything. She's held back by what feels like a permanent hand that will never let her speak or think her truth. She's trapped in darkness with nothing; she can't even think of what she wants without consequence. This also contributes to how girls had to fight for their education and the right to learn and have a voice. This needs to change! 130 million girls worldwide have had to fight for a good and thoughtful education. Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, women have been stripped of their right to go to school. However, teen girls are sneaking around to get into online schooling. They wake up at around 7:00 AM to get together with their friends and enter a virtual English class. In December 2022, the Taliban closed schools and banned education for all girls and women. My art piece is supposed to help to show that even the little things like tears will allow people to empathize and do what is right!

I hope people learn about this issue and speak up. I hope people don't think they are drowning in darkness and feel like they can never share their voices. Instead, people should stick up for others and help make people live better. Everyone is equal and free and should be able to learn and believe what they want.