Knitting the Future
Piscataway, NJ
2017, Senior, Art
Reflection
Reflection
When researching for information for this contest, there was one subject that popped out to me – penguins in sweaters. Although it is the most adorable thing, why would penguins wear sweaters? It turns out there is a deeper story behind this. Penguins have been suffering from the effects of oil spills across the globe and penguin sweaters have been the solution to this. To prevent the penguins from ingesting the lethal oil and gunk on their bodies, the penguins wear sweaters. The sweaters have risen in popularity ever since an oil spill in Australia’s Phillip Island where 32,000 penguins were put at risk. Such a simple solution has transformed the effects of oil spills for the better good. My artwork is symbolic of the sweaters and the act of knitting. The power is in our hands. The future is in our hands. My artwork depicts a girl knitting a heart with three penguins in her lap. Two of the penguins are protected, wearing cozy sweaters. The middle penguin, however, is covered in oil and looking up for help. The act of knitting symbolizes the power in our hands. We, the people, hold ultimate power over these penguin’s lives. We must “knit” together love and offer solace to penguins in return for our unruly mistakes in the ocean waters. Just as the girl is knitting together a heart, we must knit together our actions. The background of the artwork states “knitting the future, one penguin at a time”. The future is in our hands and we MUST take action, whether it be through knitting, or simple acts of kindness, to reform the effects of oil spills.