"Band-Aids are simply a surface level solution, and much like masking your emotions, they don’t do anything to fix the issue. In making this piece, I wanted to explore the feeling of internalizing emotional issues and handling them on your own. I made this self-portrait during an emotional period of my life and it serves as an outlet for feelings I would normally keep to myself. In creating this painting, I found more comfort in the process and product than I would have by communicating my feelings in any other form. It was made in a short period of time and is the product of painting mostly for stress relief. One night after painting the piece, I felt it was missing something and pulled out my box of Band-Aids. I like to keep the old wrappers in the box as they are, at least in my opinion, nicely designed and pleasant to the eye. I added them to the bare area around my chest and it resulted in the final piece as it is now. The creation of this piece was quite emotionally driven and it is almost comical how that contrasts with the message it depicts. This painting is my own personal wound care and it is a contradiction between what it represents and the purpose it served for me."
Stefan Marshall, Champlain College
Sasha Simon, NYU Tisch School
Sam Junkermann, Blair
Maisy Moss, Sarah Lawrence College
Owen Twitchell, Southern Oregon University
Lizzie Kavounas, Loyola Maryland
Victoria Rivera, Greenwich High School
Ben O'Brien, Greens Farms Academy
Liyanna Asaria-Issa , Greens Farms Academy
"This piece for me was really personal. My idea was to try and contrast the way that people see me and the way that I see myself. Most people don’t realize the fact that I hate engaging in conversation because I’m afraid of what the other person is going to think of me or the fact that I have trouble trusting people and opening up nor the fact that I bottle up my emotions and push people away. I’m hoping that from this piece, people take away the following: everyone is always going through something, but you never truly know what they have to deal with, so be kind and don’t be too quick to judge and that mental health can fluctuate and that’s perfectly fine. It’s okay not to be okay. Overall, this piece was very personal, and felt a lot more vulnerable than I’m used to but I hope that in some ways, other people can learn from it." -Liyana Asaria-Issa, Whitby class of '19, GFA