LXS JOVENES VIRTUAL EXHIBIT
VIRTUAL EXHIBIT SPRING 2022
Lxs Jovenes Leadership Lab Virtual Art Exhibition of 2022 is a month-long leadership program where artists from 6th – 9th-grade work on their artistic practices to intersect art and social justice. This spring session, our Jovenes artists chose to deepen their knowledge on racial justice, identity and social issues through art mediums such as sculpture, painting, mixed media and collage. We are so proud to deepen our impact and community dialog around social justice with youth.
Here are the artworks created by our Spring 2022 Lxs Jovenes Leadership Lab participants.
Eyes
Viviana Cannone
Medium – Collage on canvas
Artist Statement: I chose to make a collage on self identity. My message is to reaffirm my identity, to express myself and to be proud of my mixed heritage. I found inspiration for this piece while looking at other artwork. I’ve realized when I’m around other creatives, I get a greater sense of my own creativity.
Collage is a medium I can quickly move through because I’m very comfortable with the practice. I love using mixed media to create a piece that represents my visions. I went through a process of looking through vintage magazines for pictures that reflected my identity and my cultural context. I left edges torn to reflect the rawness in my life and experiences. I intentionally layered torn images to create a chaotic feeling to draw the attention of the viewer. I feel very satisfied with my work because it connects with my personality and heritage.
Russian Invasion on Ukraine
Santino Cannone
Medium – Acrylic on canvas
Artist Statement:Welcome to my presentation about the Russian invasion in Ukraine. I used acrylic paint on canvas throughout my piece. I chose acrylic on canvas, because it is a medium I’m comfortable with. Painting and drawing allow me to express myself more easily. I did this in over a day because I was very inspired and it came out quickly.
As you see my piece has blood puddles and a tank with explosions in the background. I pick this topic because it’s important to know what’s happening in the world and how it’s affecting us all. There’s no reason for violence and war over some land just settle it out peacefully without murdering innocent people.
The Unknown
Ariela Elani Garcia
Medium – Clay and wire
Artist Statement: I start my artistic process by thinking about larger topics and then searching for reference images that can communicate the messages I want to share. I then sketch my ideas without worrying how perfect or finished they look. After several drafts, I can narrow down the sketched image that I am going to use.
In this piece, “The Unknown”, the message I communicate is how people of color get targeted and discriminated against. Our society creates biases that hurt people; these biases can be broken down little by little by first changing the ideas that the government and ourselves have. The lock around the fist represents these biases. Deconstructing biases are important to me because of the impact they have on the world and how they slowly hurt and crumble humanity. This deterioration of society leads to hating one another. The next generation is our future and we are slowly shaping a new environment into something that can potentially be harmful or life changing.
Poder
Jessica Saavedra Jaime
Medium – Collage on canvas
Artist Statement: What inspired me to make this collage was my cultural identity and my connection to myself. My process for making this collage was gathering images that give the audience an idea of who I am and things that are important to me. I connected all my images by overlapping and creating a flow to the composition. Making this collage made me feel more connected to my identity and culture because it gave me time to think about who I am. My culture is important to me because it gives me a sense of my roots and heritage. One of the complexities of identity are stereotypes and embodying the complexities of my own identities and how they challenge and push against the stereotypes of what it means to be Mexican. I recognize the tradition of my culture and at the same time I realize I am a modern version of what it means to be Mexican, I am the new tradition of what being Mexican is. I am the new history of what Mexican-American is.
Pollution
Nasly Carreon & Alexa Nava
Medium – Acrylic on canvas
Artist Statement: Something that inspired us was the city of Denver and especially the mountains. We are trying to communicate that we should take care of our city and be mindful of it. We used acrylic, paint, and color pencils. We combined ideas and made art. During the process we brainstormed a lot and made both ideas work. We felt confident about this piece and what we accomplished.
Panic
Paola Garcia-Macias
Medium – Acrylic on canvas
Artist Statement: “The good thing about hitting rock bottom, there’s only one way left to go and that’s up”. This quote has inspired me to use acrylic paint to speak about mental health but specifically eating disorders in a sight way. Many people see eating disorders as just having trouble with food by many people don’t realize the anxiety and depression and panic that it comes with it.
The Border
Eduardo Rodriguez & Carlo Carreon
Medium – Graphite, acrylic, canvas
No Artist Statement