CPS All-City Visual Arts Exhibitions

Teacher Name: Jesse Wyss
Grade: 12

Materials: Ibis Paint X
Dimensions: 3 x 9 inches
Description: People being trapped in a bubble is similar to how we’re in quarantine. Some feel suffocated in their small homes and want to escape it, but when they do exit the safety of their homes, they’re more exposed to the chaos of the world and more likely to be infected by the virus. The virus is represented by the school of fishes because of the large numbers of fishes in a school of fish, similar to how there are large numbers of infected cases of Covid-19.

Artist Statement: While being in quarantine, I went through different phases of feeling positive and negative. For a while I was stuck in a negative mindset that did not sit well with me. I wanted to go outside and hang out with my friends but paranoia would make me sit back and stay shut in at home. Wanting to share what I was feeling, I made artworks that represented my negative feelings while in quarantine. One feeling was infected by negative thoughts and not being able to contain it. The thoughts being represented by poisonous plants because negative thoughts were a poison to my positive mindset and would hold me back from being productive and optimistic. Another feeling was being trapped inside a bubble, in fear of going out into the world and drowning in the chaos. I would feel fear for people I knew who went outside knowing a virus was spreading yet still wanted to be outside, taking chances on their health.

Making these different pieces was challenging for me because it was out of my comfort zone. For instance, I paint often with acrylics but I’ve never painted flowers and I use traditional mediums rather than digital mediums. I used multiple sketchbook pages that are filled with research or thumbnail sketches plus rough drafts of different mediums of the final pieces in order to have an ideal color palette or experimentation with a material. In the end, I was able to overcome these challenges by constantly asking for feedback and suggestions from my peers and pushing myself to finish because I want to share these feelings with others to show that they aren’t alone.