I am a currently a junior at Pacific Grove High School, this is my third year in Mr. Kelly’s art class. My family have always been able to create art and I’ve always found working with clay to be the best way to express my ideas. My goal is to use my art to make people see things from a different perspective, being able to take a step back to understand the art and the artist’s view.

I have mostly used kiln-fire clay in the past, but recently I have started using monster clay, a non-kiln-fired sculpture clay which allows me to explore my ideas further by being able to reuse and stretch the clay more. I enjoy creating human-like pieces as a way to show a mix of emotions, by altering the human body, making parts absurdly large or small.

My short story, ‘Cacophony,’ delves into the complexities of beauty and the potential for it to be misused or disregarded. I believe that the human voice holds power, and the ability to connect with others is the sole reason for the advancement of humanity. However, the character has an oversized mouth and is absurd looking with a praying mantis living inside it, which represents something hostile or wrong. The mantis mating ritual, where the female consumes the male’s head, symbolizes the brutality of nature and the sacrifices that must be made for the continuation of the mantis offspring and their species as a whole. This piece has been the most challenging and rewarding work I have ever created.