The project was to plan and produce a piece of social justice artwork. In class we had many references and topics to choose from. We looked at examples of activists’ artworks and tried to decode the meaning. We saw simple and complex work to inspire us. We also made many mind maps to think of every possible topic we could. The goal was to inspire our audience and make them think and feel something. The issue I ended up deciding on was the environment because of how much we depend on it. It was hard to decide on one issue about the environment, but water pollution really stood out to me.

I approached the topic by thinking of something I genuinely care for. I’ve always been a huge advocate for the environment, and that made it really easy to choose a social justice topic. I was in an environmental club for about two years, we would go to state parks and pick up trash, make things using recycled objects, and plant trees and flowers. My family and I are also really big on recycling and composting. We try to help in any way we can. I wanted my piece to make people really think about the meaning.

My beginning ideas were to make a piece that was ironic or contradicting. I wanted it to look pretty and tragic at the same time. People like nature because it is beautiful and appealing to their senses, and if we keep going the way we are we won’t have something nice to look at anymore. I kept that same idea but I didn’t know how to execute it. While flipping through my personal sketchbook an idea came to me, which was to put nature in a bottle that had a label that said danger. In the bottle it looks gorgeous but the label contradicts it. I kept the bottle idea, but I ended up changing how the label was laid out. I changed it into a tag that said S.O.S. because when a person is stranded and in danger they sometimes throw a bottle into the ocean with an S.O.S. because they need help. In this case it is the ocean in the bottle that needs help. The wave may look appealing, but once you get a closer look, it is dirty water and tons of plastic. I wanted it to be colorful but not bright and crazy, it is subtle and means something.

Jazzy Perez

Save. Our. Seas.

February 2020

Watercolor