Title: Sealed Decay

Size: 16.5 x 11.7 in

Date of Completion: Feb 10, 2025

Inquiry Question: How can I express/depict my experience and lessons learned from being burned out in my life in diverse ways?

Ideas: Dead fish = fatigue spoil under surface. Fish neglect & toxicity; burnout forms, consuming us (Characters: 93)

Materials: Color pencil, ballpoint pen, Hot glue gun, and white gel pen (Characters: 61)

Process: Layer dead imagery under → show burnout’s overwhelming, trapped weight. Burnout = slow, unseen decay (Characters: 100)

Citations:  Lucio Fontana destroy canvas, create textured surface/out of border → destruction can be creation (Character: 97)

Lucio Fontana

I take inspiration from Lucio Fontana’s cuts in canvases that transforms it into a dynamic, sculptural surface. He explores that destruction can also be creation. By manipulating surfaces, layering textures, or experimenting with holes, it push beyond traditional boundaries of form and meaning (Characters: 294)

Citations: Link 

By cutting open the center of the canvas, I experimented with creating fold marks by stretching and stapling it, shaping a more textured opening reminiscent of a bag. My inspiration came from the form and structure of my duffel bag. I also experimented to show volume with the trash I had in my room (Characters: 299)

By layering & collage, I depict burnout as hidden decay. The canvas acts as a bag, revealing rotting fish in trash—exhaustion & entrapment. By hiding decay under the surface, I focus on how burnout builds unnoticed. Texture, contrast, and negative space enhance tension to uncover what was hidden (Characters: 296)

This piece is a visual representation of burnout—how it builds up unnoticed until it becomes overwhelming. The canvas acts as a surface, with multiple hands pulling it open, revealing what’s hidden inside: a chaotic collage of rotting fish buried in trash. Just like burnout, it’s something that festers beneath the surface, ignored until it reaches a point of no return.

The fish symbolize trapped decay, much like the feeling of being stuck in exhaustion with no way out. They’re neglected, left to rot over time—just as burnout creeps up when stress and fatigue go unaddressed. And, just like decay, burnout spreads toxicity, not just affecting the person experiencing it but also those around them.

I want this piece to evoke a reaction, both visually and emotionally. The unsettling imagery is meant to reflect the reality of burnout—it’s not just exhaustion but a deep, consuming state that, if left unchecked, can feel just as overwhelming as opening a bag to find a stinking pile of decay.