As a high school senior soon starting a new chapter in my life, I’ve pondered all the possibilities the adult world could have. Entering adulthood and moving away from the embrace of my parents, there is a drastic change in the environment surrounding me, essentially making me and others similar students“newborns” to society. 

My piece portrays the clean blank slate of soon-to-be adults in response to their changing environments through glass textures. Glass, which allows surrounding objects to permeate and merge, can symbolize how susceptible young adults are to absorbing behaviors reflected in their new environments. The glass figures are therefore painted to overlap with other surrounding glass figures, absorbing the qualities of surrounding individuals. The blue light on the top symbolizes a light leading to an “open door”, much like a newborn’s path from the womb to the real world, or young adults’ paths from adolescence to adulthood.

  Through this piece, I wanted people to alienate them from themselves, switch perspectives and realize what our damaged Earth could look like to a foreigner.  I wanted  to take a humurous apprach to contrast the whimsical nature of my work to the dismal, looming reality of what our Earth could become if we continue to be so passive.  The wordplay on the title of my work "to Earth," can be interpreted as literally going to Earth, but can also be comprehended as adressing Earth with the remorse we should feel.

People can be seen looking up at the trees in my painting, waiting for the right moment to pluck one as it comes zig-zagging down. In contrast, I placed myself inside an elevated room with paper cutouts of my ginkgo leaves sprinkled all over the room. My DIY paper leaves are a symbol of how I have learned to create happiness myself from within instead of constantly searching for it elsewhere. This has enabled me to stay consistent, flexible, and strong despite things changing around me.

  Changes might come into our lives whether we desire them or not. This piece was primarily inspired by the well-known maxim, "When one door closes, another opens." This was something my mother would tell me whenever I was about to embark on another change in my mostly mundane life. No matter how many times I encounter change, my insides churn, like my stomach is fluttering with butterflies. This emotion used to make me uneasy, but I'm learning to be more receptive to the ineluctable changes that are woven into my life. The artwork depicts the liminality that is felt when adapting to new changes, with the girl traveling into the overflowing door capturing how it feels to indulge in another change that has made itself present. Some doors are open, representing the new chances and changes that are open for the girl; others are closed, showcasing how the girl has overcome the previous ventures and should wallow into another one.

  I have realized that nowadays, many people are trying to hide or change who they really are. People try to adjust themselves to look similar to the person we call a standard beauty by having plastic surgeries and hiding their real personalities from others. This is because there is significant pressure to conform to certain standards of beauty and behavior. However, I feel that it's important to recognize that everyone has their own unique qualities, both physical and personal, that make them who they are. So, thought this painting, I had wanted to show that someone can not tell you to change who you are and you should not hide who you really are.