The Cost, Engulfed, and the Bag
AP art sustained investigation 2022
"Engulfed" began as a page in my sketchbook and served as the foundation off of which I would later create "the Cost." I have always gravitated towards issues surrounding climate change, fast fashion, and consumerism--the topics that my sustained investigation would eventually revolve around.
After completing "Engulfed," I began to work on "the Cost," a work that displays the cost of our actions as consumers. Throughout many of my works, I explore the ways art can prompt change or provoke reflection in the viewer. I think this work seeks to achieve this, especially because the main subject of the work is a boy who somewhat scrutinizes the viewer. I hope when people examine this work they reflect on their role in the climate crisis and the effects of their actions. To us, the cost of our actions is a new shirt or a new pair of pants. On the other side of the world, the cost is hours of underpaid work for underage workers in poor conditions. Everything has its cost.
"The Bag" was a piece I spontaneously created in my room over winter break. It wasn't until I saw it next to "the Cost" that I realized how well the two went together. Although it's not one of my favorite works, there's something about its ambiguity that I appreciate. I originally intended on including something in the bag. After deliberating between a fish drawn in colored pencil, sea creatures painted in watercolor, and even collaged trash, I finally settled on leaving it empty. The emptiness of the bag prompts the viewer to reflect on its contents. It contributes to an aura of mystery surrounding the drawing. What is in the bag? The extent of the waste we create is so vast that it could be anything.