Sanctuary: A Senior Amplified Art Project by Stella Ge (2015)

This piece of art is a culmination of both the English and Design portions of the Blink unit. I incorporated pieces of my quick writes and used those ideas of mindfulness and meditation to inspire my piece as a whole. I overlaid my word, sanctuary, over the photograph of the leaf that I took and inverted the colors of my zentangle to create a dark background. I then put my mandala over my fingernail that was in the image and added my favorite relevant excerpt from my quick-write to complete the piece. With this work, I intended to emphasize the importance of finding tranquility and a moment of peace in such a complex world.

To create this piece, I drew upon all the photographic and graphic design techniques I'd learned in the past two years at Freestyle, and I believe that it almost reflects the role Freestyle has played in my own life. Freestyle is my sanctuary, a place where I can come and be fully creative and experimental with my artwork, a place different from the traditional classroom where I can actually set my own standards for excellence. I've been able to challenge my own perfectionism and working alongside such talented peers has elevated my own work so much higher. It's been an integral part of my high school experience and I believe that this amplified piece expresses that.