World of Cards
Brookline, MA
2020, Senior, Art
Reflection
A house of cards, with every card vital, represents our planet, where human beings and other organisms and their habitats depend on each other. Overall, I wanted to highlight the interwoven relationship between nature and humanity. For years, we’ve been destroying the stability of our planet through pollution, trawling, industrialization of agriculture, overfishing, seismic bombs, overuse of fossil fuels, habitat destruction, etc. Yet fragile hope still exists. Laudably, this hope is led by the youth (much like the individuals within my drawings). This year, my friends and I, as part of our Environmental Action Club, have participated in climate strikes, taught assemblies and lectures on environmentalism, and organized coastal and sanctuary cleanups. While engaging in activism, many of us are taking on new responsibilities such as voting, working, and driving. We can now elect the leaders that represent our values, put our money to ethical products and organizations, and choose other forms of transportation. Seeing how the internet and technology—for good and bad—plays a visible role in mobilizing new generations, I decided to utilize the digital medium and share my work on social media to promote the message to a broader audience. In the end, there is hope. We hope that our young and influential generation can transform the crisis that older generations have left us and pay back the environment for all that it has given us.