In early February, seven Middlesex artists received regional awards in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. This week, the annual competition announced the contest’s National Medalists, and two Middlesex seniors, Anna Yum and Itsy Seeman, learned that their works were selected as Silver Medal winners from over 330,000 submissions across the country. Enjoy their winning submissions below, along with descriptions of the work from the artists themselves!
Title: Up in the Clouds
By Anna Yum
Title: This Sh*t is Bananas
By Itsy Seeman
Date: October 2017
Medium: Acrylic on paper
Size: 10×14
Statement: Art is of often interpreted in the eyes of the viewer as having a political subtext. I am interested in how my rendering of bananas could be spun into having a political message. For example, one could consider how a whole economy is built on the banana trade and its effects on the environment or the exploitation of the workers. The brown spots on the bananas could symbolize aging or decay. But I want the viewer to simply look at my bananas. They are left isolated in white to emphasize the fact that they are just bananas. I think that a lot of art interpretation is BS, so as Gwen Stefani famously said, “This Sh*t is Bananas.”