Celina Correa

Soledad High School

Senior

My name is Celina Correa. Currently I’m a senior in Soledad High School. Ever since I was as young as 6, I loved doing art and appreciated the complexity of it.  It wasn’t just images on a piece of paper. It was made out of love and passion. Just like any other piece of literature, it told a story. Where it invoked emotions that you sometimes just can’t write in a book. It brought people together no matter who they were. You didn’t need to speak the same language as that artist to understand what they were trying to convey. I found that beautiful in itself. My aspirations are to one day make art that makes others contemplate its meaning and unlock memories they once had. I want to inspire kids and others because when I first experienced that feeling it made me look forward to my future and was my drive to try.

 In this piece, I took inspiration from a current situation that is happening. That is inflation, more specifically how it’s affecting young adults and teens. As well as the unhealthy obsession of constantly working. Lately I’ve seen young adults only focus on work and refuse to spend time with their loved ones because they are so focused on how they will be able to afford things like retirement, college debt, and other payments. This initially doesn’t seem like a problem but these young adults waste their 20s only working. These are the special years of your life for anyone. This is where you discover more about yourself and where you spend time with others. Because later your family and friends will probably not be able to do those sorts of stuff with you anymore.

What I want to convey is a sense of imbalance in this painting. How this obsession can quickly turn into regret and the person becomes a shell of their former selves. In the painting they are the white figures that aimlessly walk on the staircases. However, the staircases lead to nowhere or go around in circles. This represents their journey and how it’s not guaranteed that they’ll find fulfillment. None of their staircases lead to the outside world.  The only exception is the one in the middle of the painting in which this person broke out of their own loop to find fulfillment in what they already have by spending time with others and living life to the fullest.