Artist Statement

Equity vs. Equality

Siena Sommer

My artwork is a collage on a 20 x 24 canvas that is water colored light grey. The color scheme of my project is like shades of nude, black, and grey with a small amount of red. My project draws attention to racism and equality. I found newspaper articles and modge-podged them to the canvas, I also drew some symbols and glued those on too.

The inspiration behind my artwork is city billboards and information on racism. I want it to draw attention to different events that show that we still have discrimination in our country. For example, I found in my research that black people have been found to have fewer job opportunities, lower pay, poorer benefits, and greater job instability. According to the Pew Research Center, 8 in 10 Asian Americans have said that violence has increased against them in the US since COVID, and 32% said that they fear someone might threaten or physically attack them. In terms of the Hispanic population, 23% of Latinos said that they have a fear of being criticized for speaking Spanish in the US, and 21% of the Hispanic people surveyed said that they were told to go back to their country. This shows that discrimination is still happening and is still a big problem in the US. It might not be seen nor recognized as much in Maine, but it is still a problem.   

I learned a lot from working on this art piece and researching racism and equality. I hope that when others look at my piece they feel sympathy, but are also aware of what's going on in the world right now like people not being treated equally STILL even though it's 2023. The message I'm trying to send through my project is to treat people with respect and equity. My art project raises awareness on past and current events including racism, equity, equality, and how fairness isn't always equal and equality isn't always fair. The emotions I tried to show through my artwork are knowledge, empathy, and consideration.