Hope and Justice

Marigold

|

This is my version of Michelle Yeoh winning an Oscar at this year’s award ceremony. Her message of hope was inspiring. I added in some celebratory aspects, and animated the image a bit, but wanted to express absolute joy and excitement through features in my art. Out of the 95 years the Oscar award show has been running, Michelle Yeoh is the first Asian woman to win the lead actress role–which has only been this year. During her acceptance speech, Michelle Yeoh was vocal and proud of being Asian, spreading more positivity about representation for people that “look like” her, inspiring others to work hard and not give up on dreams.

Worms

|

This digital art piece is meant to represent the racism I experienced as a child at school, especially during lunch, when I would bring my mom’s homemade food to school. I loved my culture, and I loved the food my mom would make me. But the other kids weren’t familiar with my culture, and they would make insensitive remarks about my food that would make me feel embarrassed to have brought it. Once, someone told me the chả lụa I brought smelled like stinky cheese. I stopped bringing the delicious meals my mom would make, all because the other kids would make these remarks. I don’t think it was the kids’ fault for being that way. They were just never taught that there were other people out there, with different cultures, foods, and traditions, and I want to raise awareness around how important it is that parents properly teach their children these things. If we want to stop racism, we should start with educating our kids better.

Breakout

|

For this project, I used acrylic paint and water to paint a recently hatched butterfly and its chrysalis. The butterfly has a rainbow pattern to represent the rainbow LGBTQ flag. The chrysalis represents the proverbial and literal closets that so many LGBTQ people are forced to hide in. Butterflies represent hope, so this project represents my hope that LGBTQ people will be able to come out of the closet and be accepted in the future.

Isolation

|

I chose this category because I am a shy person so painting is an easier way for me to communicate and painting helps me in expressing my emotions more.

Teens and Opioids

|

Mental health is affected by drugs. Decided to focus on opioid use since we had the lesson plan on them but figured most people have heard of it but don’t know the facts.

Drugs and Youth

|

We have been doing this TikTok videos for a while at school about dumb stuff and when approached by our ITC Advisor to do this we figured it would be fun and easy. Drugs are a problem, we don’t have access to our restrooms because of the problem.

Strings Attached

|

My artwork, “Strings Attached” regards the strings that come with being in an environment with drug abuse. Often, high schoolers face peer pressure. They face manipulation and gaslighting that leads them to drug use. My artwork symbolizes the manipulation that is often behind the abuse of drugs and the effects that come with it.

Opioids Use Directing Change Digital Art

|

My art piece represents the reality of how easily opioids can be disguised as pills letting viewers know how it’s easier to hide dangerous substances within something that seems harmless. However, now pills have become more and more common to become a way for teens to get high, but little do teens know it is dangerous to take medication from a non-medical professional. Which leads to many overdosing or trying to harm themselves to escape from their problems. It is not worth it. The duct tape represents the prevention which is to not consume anything that hasn’t been handled in a safe manner or prescribed by a medical professional. The purpose of this art piece is to give a visual representation of how opioids can fit into a normal scene, and the prevention is to not consume the pill.

It’s Up To Us

|

It’s Up To Us defines the responsibility youth have to help their peers understand the issues surrounding opioid crisis. Knowing what you’re facing and how to respond to it can be the difference between life and death. The leadership students at David A Brown have committed to reaching the youth of California by presenting this important information from their hearts in hopes that they can save a life. It matters because everyone matters.