·Amaya Loubeau Creating original artwork: 5 points

 

This semester, I created two original works titled Strange Fruit and Lost Children, both centered on confronting ongoing violence and loss within the Black community. Strange Fruit reflects on modern day lynchings, police brutality, and the ways harmful stereotypes and negative cultural narratives are often dramatized and consumed, while Lost Children focuses on the lives cut short by gun violence, prejudice, and systemic injustice. At the center of Lost Children, I referenced George Stinney Jr. to ground the work in a real and devastating history. Creating these pieces pushed me to sit with difficult emotions and think critically about how to visually communicate grief, injustice, and remembrance. Having the opportunity to exhibit them in a student showcase and watch people engage with the work in real time was especially meaningful, because it showed me how art can open space for reflection, conversation, and accountability. This experience reaffirmed my commitment to using my practice to address hard truths and to create work that not only represents, but also challenges and disrupts.

-Amaya Loubeau