I had a lot of trouble with this edit, I went after some noticeable signs of neglect in children, like broken walls, broken toys and even dirty hanging things. A light shines from the child to show that there is hope regardless of the situation. The snakes were added to show that in childhood, things like that can slither in and never leave, but they are white to represent how it could be played off as innocent. My process was hard due to art block. I used paint, charcoal, some newspaper, and wooden pieces in my artwork, as I wanted to create something with many mediums to branch out my skills. I did my best that I could, and I’m thankful for the opportunity.

Breath is intended to reveal how our internal thoughts can physically hold a person back. As a young adult, leaving for university can be one of the hardest steps to take. The white lines are physically tying her to her past, while the subject’s internal thoughts are recorded visibly through the addition of text. The work is meant to represent how something small, like a thought, can present a significant challenge to overcome. It shows the viewer they are not alone, and they need to just breathe and push past the fear. You have the power to overcome any obstacles that your mind creates

When does a safe space become dangerous? A passion of mine is portraying mental health concerns through art. This work of art focuses on agoraphobia, the fear of leaving spaces that a person considers safe. Through the contrast of warm comfort and irrational fear, this work shows the theme of inside/outside, where the inside is the illusion of a ‘safe space,’ and the outside is an unrealistic sense of ‘danger’. The safe bubble is a warm, comforting shelter from the dark outside but, stay in the safe bubble too long and food piles up, your efforts to block out the outside wane, the room gets darker, and the face in the window becomes more vicious. One day you will have to face the outside world again.

This piece is meant to represent the feeling of longing for something that one does not have, and through this longing, your own life may become dull and grey, and the things you yearn for become bright and colourful. With the sort of “cartoony” landscape, the outside world is meant to feel “fake” in a way, as if it were unobtainable for the cat staring into it. This also adds to the “wonder” that it aims to reflect.

Since the cat in the photograph, Midnight, is such an outdoors-loving girl, I felt this piece would connect more with those who know about my cat. Likewise, I have also yearned for something I may never obtain, and to me it really does feel almost “cartoony” to see someone with what you desire.

Everyone must grow up at some point, and I wanted to depict the transformation that comes with it. As the branches stretch toward the door, it is meant to be symbolic of growth and moving on in life. I overlaid the tree on a vacant room to show how we progress and outgrow things from our past. The tree is so prominent to show how hard it is to stay in the past when moving forward. I added boxes and a lonely teddy bear to convey moving out and leaving your childhood behind. I used white watercolour to give a ghostly effect and various other colours to give a dreamlike form to reflect the surrealistic feeling of your experiences in life turning into memories.

This piece, titled Room by Room, highlights the contrast between youthful imagination and the monotony of urban living while the warmth of personal moments unfold without notice. The theme Inside/Outside is highlighted through the windows becoming doors, revealing an inner moment, and inviting others to reflect on the uniqueness behind every door. Within those spaces, a woman goes about her day, ignoring her colourful surroundings while focusing on work. This project captures the vibrancy that hides within the mundane world and how people ignore important aspects of their lives. The embroidery, symbolizing different family members, represents the inner child’s imagination spilling over the page.

I prefer being out of school rather than being stuck inside. School can feel like a prison, trapping me inside.

Gregory Crewdson inspired me because his photos often look like the subject/person is trapped and wants to get out. Also, Eleanor Lindsey-Fyn inspired me through her creative choice to draw certain parts of her photographic images.

The idea I want viewers to grasp is the feeling of being trapped inside while daydreaming and longing to get out.

My flash forward is called “family values.” Made of digital components, felt, and embroidery floss. My piece is made up of a complex maze on the inside, having dead ends and few ways out. The brain is highlighted specifically, having a star in the middle. Which represents an “inner creativity” of sorts, something that’s hidden behind layers, mazes, and shielded from those around me. This represents how I feel as an artist, how I’ve been scared to show my work to my family around me.

For my piece I chose a building where I feel the most comfortable, a place that changes my view of life when I step into it. I chose my dance studio. I took the picture from inside the room and painted a doorframe onto the photo. In ballet you are always striving to improve; everyone wants to be perfect. I named this piece “Perfectionist” to emphasize that idea. The ribbons in the photo look like they are wrapping around me, as if they are pulling me in the right direction.

My art is about communicating a hidden meaning. Expressing my own, or others' thoughts in my work to show awareness and understanding of current problems. This work reveals the stress of school, and how school is affecting students' ability to stop and take a look outside. The anxiety and the fear of failure create a constant feeling of confinement, which is revealed in my work through the frame of nature painted along the composition’s edges. Painted representations of school supplies are scattered around the floor to show how much work always surrounds us and how overwhelming it all can be. The person’s identity is concealed in the photograph, so the figure can represent anyone who feels the same way.

Childhood creates a sense of bitter nostalgia, a sad memory of days gone by. 

I truly miss the days of my childhood, as I’m sure many do. Things were simpler back then and much easier to deal with. I aimed to represent the feeling of longing for that simpler time and my inability to go back to it. 

It was also intended to represent that as a society we tend to refuse adults any sense of joy or wonder, locking the inner child away for the benefit of the adult world. We grow up and are forced to forget the children we once were, denying ourselves indulgence in anything we deem “childish.”

From an early age, I have been fascinated by witchcraft and the afterlife. The opportunity to showcase this history through mixed media allows me to speak for all those who needlessly lost their lives at the hands of the church. Not everything is as it seems. Beneath the glory of the church lies a dark history of mass executions that primarily targeted innocent women accused of witchcraft. While the church's facade seems welcoming and safe, the injustices of the church cannot be contained inside forever. Just like the church, regardless of how you present yourself on the outside, the truths contained within will eventually be revealed, allowing people to place judgment on who you are and what you represent.

Unbound Imagination was inspired by my inner creativity and explores my love of stories and art. This multiple-exposure self-portrait, created using Photoshop, reveals me engaged in a variety of storytelling activities simultaneously. Much like Eleanor Lindsay-Fynn, who combined realistic and cartoon art, I hope to blur the line between reality and fiction. My piece explores the stories that exist inside the creative heart, wishing to escape into the outside world through a variety of art mediums. Whether inside or outside, reality or fiction, there exist aspects of art and story in even the most mundane bedroom objects. The world is full of stories and art, if only you are willing to look for them.

I’ve always been a very imaginative person. I find myself frequently daydreaming, and I have a tendency to forget about the real world while I delve into books or writing. I wanted my piece to reflect that. Using oil pastels, I wanted the medium's colour to be vibrant in contrast to the dullness of the photo. I wanted it to represent how the imagination is brighter when compared to reality. With the flowers and vines bursting from the head of the subject, I wanted to show how too much time spent daydreaming can begin to skew reality.

The main message I wanted to convey was the uncertainty of the future and what it may be like to live in a foreign environment. This theme was inspired by my future desire to live in a foreign country. Along with uncertainty, I also wanted the underlying themes of determination and nostalgia to be present. Those themes were inspired by artists such as Michael Wolf and Satellite Lovers. I wanted this piece to serve as a sort of time capsule, something I may look fondly upon in the future. Lastly, the title was inspired by the story of the Longmen, which is about a koi who travelled up a waterfall and through the dragon gate, symbolizing a transformation.

This artwork explores a combination of fantasy and reality. We use books to escape the real world, and what we imagine can come to life in the outside world. Imagination is a powerful thing, and being able to bring your ideas to life is truly something special. Art has always been a way for me to explore and express myself as a person. I typically draw for fun and get inspired by the things around me. For this mixed media work, I took inspiration from many fantasy novels as well as Dungeons and Dragons. Each character incorporated has a different role or characteristic. They were drawn digitally so I could manipulate the proportions and details.

My work highlights the idea of isolation via confinement to one place your whole life. So many things go on from childhood to adolescence, leaving few moments in between to explore beyond your usual setting. 

The piece relates to the prompt ‘Inside, Outside’ with the base being a photograph of crystal glass prisms. The prisms are placed purposely to show how others are confined while you are encased yourself. Selectively chosen watercolours to separate each glass statue.

Tied to Yesterday explores the tension between moving towards the unknown while leaving fragments of oneself behind. The scattered, incomplete pieces of my silhouette symbolize the parts tied to my former school: the memories, friendships, and experiences that shaped who I am. Strings connect these pieces to the school, signifying the bonds and the difficulty letting go. The question mark represents the uncertainty of the future. It’s a reflection of both fear and excitement. My painting is a visual diary of transition, showing the emotions of growth, separation, and self-discovery. Through this work, I invite viewers to reflect on their own journeys: what they’ve left behind and what lies ahead.

I created this art to symbolize a prisoner being caged up in jail with just a thin wire fence separating him from the rest of the world. The brightly coloured birds can go wherever they please, unlike the prisoner. I chose a prisoner because we all feel trapped inside our lives sometimes.