Aurora Navarro

North Monterey County High School

Senior

My name is Aurora Navarro and I am a senior at North Monterey County High School in Castroville, California. Ever since I was a little girl, art has been an integral part of my life with generous spurts of productivity, followed by dry spells due to the business of everyday life. During more creative periods, I tend to explore a variety of mediums that juxtapose my mixed emotions. On the contrary, there are periods where I experience creative blocks caused by internal barriers that leave me unable to create.

When my ceramics instructor, Ms. Eisenstat, gave me the opportunity to design and construct an artwork for the “For the Love of Art exhibition — I knew I wanted to express the symbiotic relationship I have with artistry. The mixed media panel I have composed is titled Symbiosis, and speaks to how I currently feel at this stage of my life, as I leave high school and transition into the real world. When I processed the divide between productivity and disconnect, I wanted to showcase the opposition of a world where art exists, and one where art has been stripped. If all creators, inventors, and innovators gave up when they experienced a “block,” the world would be monotonous (depicted on the right). Conversely, the vast ways people can express themselves artistically fills spaces with vibrance, fascination, and continual vicissitude (depicted on the left).

As human beings we often face mixed emotions when change occurs and search to find balance in our lives as we face the unknown. Being self-aware and honoring our feelings allows one to find purpose and directionality amidst successes and challenges.