Please welcome the 45th president of the United States

We all have idols we admire seeking guidance from them. It ‘s usually the same mantra of mother, father, or artists from the span of music to a film of whom we want to become. For myself, I just wanted to be at my best and be like one of the great artists like Jean Michel Basquiat with a few inspirations from Frida Kahlo and what they went through that time, the issues they place on the canvas and their defiance against traditional art. I wanted to follow their concept of how they dove into the issues during their time. However, portraying my ideas for America’s issues into art was going to be hard.

Walking through the halls it seemed to be an odd slumber, almost as if there were walking zombies after hearing the news of January turning points. Most faces seemed to have had a blank slate despite being in a place of “knowledge”, they need something to express. Especially in my A.P. World History class where my teacher wanted us to accept the “win”.However, that was two months ago. 

I wait for my group of friends to prepare themselves as we all go to our art class third period. They were sluggish as well but no worse than two months ago. Impatiently waiting I urge them to hurry as we moved through the crowded hallways to reach the art class. Inspire of my love and hate relationship with the demanding class, I enter and I go along the side of the room where my desk was stationed. My art teacher from freshman year Ms. Hill had all of us hovered above her small projector to show us what we all believe others want to escape the big elephant in the room- “ the election”. She had dived into talks of what had happened after the election with the fails and so-called “accomplishments”. Ms. Hill had wanted us to be creative after the times of creating observational drawings with different mediums. She had told us to create a masterpiece of any issues that were current in American society. Students dispersed trying to figure out what ideas they could place on the canvas. I sat next to my friend Katherine and she told me her painting would focus on immigration and environmental disasters.

    My ideal thought was to work on a pencil drawing for this project. I envisioned a glass wall separating everyone and their beliefs. From conservatives facing liberals and then football players kneeling in front of war veterans.It was a Yin and Yang type of situation and my idea in my mind looked marvelous. However, presenting that idea on paper was a terrible mistake. It looked cartoonish as you see in old newspapers that no one looked at anymore and focused on technology. It made fun of important issues. I also hated the fact that it was too went general and obvious. So I created a peace that was more ambiguous to represent the past and how all past events are coming upfront to this point.

I had decided to paint three people on top to represent the era of differences that have their own story to tell about their traumatic past with and without assimilating to certain fantasy. On the left is a Jewish man based on the numbers on his wrist. Jewish people during World War Two had endured much to the point of being classified as degenerates placed in concentration camps. The middle old woman is Native American and faced assimilation as well. Lastly is an African American who had lived during the era of slavery, sharecropping, and Jim crows facing terrible ordeals based on the color of his skin revoking his moral rights of freedom. All of them have their stories to tell based on history and how it still has a place in the present. Their misfortune in a way to teach the younger generation, with the gold dripping below gives the power of individuality and free of mind and choice. Better choices for the next presidency.

Reflection:

The genre expressed in my narrative is personal relationship I have with my art, my opinions, and my need to show how the past has influence over our lives, even when we don’t know it is happening. The genre does show some organization of explaining my need to show the past affect the present, relating it with a few other artists that had wanted to state issues during their time to show that change needs to happen. I had then decided to create an artwork that depicts my feelings for the presidency. What motivated me was the event of the election that had affected others around me drastically and that had led to questions of how the election came to be. I had hoped to accomplish through my narrative essay was to spread awareness of know how the past can alternate the present and later on the future. I wanted to bring the audience back to a general event in America that would bring back their thoughts of the inauguration, to understand why I had chosen to create my artwork. A potential audience for my narrative was other artists who would want to approach current events that are happening to themselves or others around them in order to make a statement of how to institute change. The significance of the narrative have not only allowed me to become a better artist, but it was a learning piece of understanding the importance of past events and how we could evolve from past mistakes.