SSAE Online Exhibit: Statewide 2020

Amelia O’Brien
Disregards and Self Conceit
Watercolor and ink
Avalon Middle School, Orlando
Grade: 7
Teacher: Shelley Salt

The illustrations drawn were an extreme representation of the idea that technology controls our lives. In the piece, the hourglass figure represents the children of that world who are taught unrealistic beauty standards, going onto social media obsessed with the idea of likes and hearts to ‘make themselves happy’ – which is, unfortunately, a mask. Around them, the world is littered with the ‘old technology’, forests even on fire due to their negligence and obsession.

Lanaya Celestin
Orb
Copic markers
Conway Middle School, Orlando
Grade: 8
Teacher: Amanda Morehead

Miriam Mendez Rondon
Lost with a Friend
Copic markers
Conway Middle School, Orlando
Grade: 8
Teacher: Amanda Morehead

I made an illustration with a technique that included dark and bright colors that contrast the main piece and the background. My main idea was to show how technology affected humans in a bad way but why only the negative? So instead I made it look like the humans trusted technology, and technology guides their life.

Avylon Belch
Little Ole Me
Digital drawing
Corner Lake Middle School, Orlando
Grade: 8
Teacher: Peter Klomp

Yuridia Trejo-Vega
Cyber-RosaCeramic, acrylic paint, wire, fake eyelashes, airpod
Davenport School of the Arts, Davenport
Grade: 8
Teacher: Nancy Rockenbach

While Dali used technology that challenged reality, I was inspired by the way technology is fundamental in our everyday lives. To manifest how our attachment to technology can have a negative effect, I used transformation to collide the worlds of living things and technology. I find this work important because I want people to remember that we invented machines to meet specific needs, not rely on them to live.

Alayna Putnam
Paralleled MirrorsDigital
Davenport School of the Arts, Davenport
Grade: 7
Teacher: Matthew Huro

My inspiration was Salvador Dali’s lynx cats because they were part of his life and were exotic and cute. The exhibit itself inspired me because most of Dali’s paintings had a dark or creepy side. I had the subject staring upon you tattered up and in darkness whilst the other version is seeing you from paradise. It connects to me and the audience because we all see the good and bad in life but now the lynx sees a whole new side of the world they never knew existed.

Wood Clermont
New Dimensions
Digital
Davenport School of the Arts, Davenport
Grade: 8
Teacher: Matthew Huro

My composition is half human and half robot, to show the balance of both these elements. I used Pixels to find images that best related to my artistic vision. I used Photoshop to create my artwork and used texture from Lost and Taken. When viewers see my artwork I want them to see the balance of technology and humans. I learned that creating a collage allows the viewer to see what you envision.

Rafael Linares
Moving Forward
Digital
Davenport School of the Arts, Davenport
Grade: 7
Teacher: Matthew Huro

The thing that inspired me to make this artwork were the weird proportions of Dali’s art, along with the exhibit’s theme of technology. I connect with this work because of the orange cloud that resembles my friend’s hair. From making this project I learned that I can use a digital brush that resembles a paintbrush to convey shades and shadows. The thing that I think makes my artwork look surreal is the shading that the objects have, which was my main technique in this piece. I hope to convey to the viewer that the blue discs can also be understood as the faces of sideways clocks.

Kaucia Kellam
Duck Circuit
Digital
Davenport School of the Arts, Davenport
Grade: 8
Teacher: Matthew Huro

The theme of the exhibit influenced my artwork; it brought out the random and weird parts of me and I used these random thoughts to my advantage, as inspiration for this piece. The artwork is important to me in a special way, I learned to step out of my comfort zone which can change your perspective on the way you see art. The techniques I tried to use were juxtaposition, surrealism, and metamorphosis.

Maika Le
Contaminated
Pencil and digital effects
Genesis Preparatory School, Trinity
Grade: 7
Teacher: Susan Woas

A man has been taken over by the corona virus. He can no longer control himself on his own, so he is hooked up to machines to regain control. The machines take control over his whole being to keep him alive. He had to be quarantined to prevent him from getting near others. This work is related to the current pandemic Covid-19. I’ve learned that Corona has taken over many people, and I wanted to form an apocalyptic sense. The machines are what’s holding the man down from taking others, as well as what keeps him alive.

Katia Caballero
Buffalo
Tempera paint, acrylic paint, black Sharpies, India ink
Glades Middle School, Miami
Grade: 8
Teacher: Mirena Suarez

For my Irrational Technology piece, I wanted to take a more realistic approach. I used 90’s references like the old monitor, the matrix codes, and Christina Ricci from Buffalo ‘66. I also contrasted this with the futuristic robot hand that was using and controlling the monitor. The surreal part comes from the switched roles of the human and technological. I used various media including colored pencils, watercolors, and acrylic paint. I used acrylic paint where I wanted a solid color. Lastly, I wanted the viewer to see the switched roles and reflect on us as a society.

Anna Rhyzhova
This World
Digital
Hammocks Middle School, Miami
Grade: 8
Teacher: Katherine Michelle Martinez

My theme is nicotine and drug addiction. Addiction is a social issue that many don’t want to discuss yet still struggle with. People take drugs to relax and forget about their problems, but the truth is… drugs do not solve problems, they cause more problems. Addicts struggle with depression, mood swings and health problems. In my art I wanted to show that nicotine and drugs are NOT what many people say they are. Within the warm tones I include hidden, scary details which represent the effects of addiction. People saying how cool it feels when you take drugs, feeling relaxed and escaping reality. Well, maybe that’s true, but escaping reality is never a good thing. It could create a worse version of what you were escaping from. I hope this work will influence people to fight their addiction and keep others from trying drugs.

Joss Kantor
Electric Estuaries
Prismacolor pencils
Highland Oaks Middle School, Miami
Grade: 8
Teacher: Anna Weiss

My piece, Electric Estuaries, was inspired by industrial pollution damaging our wildlife and how towering buildings crowd the landscape around us. To create the artwork, I drew multiple devices and electronic parts until I found some that reflected my vision for what I wanted my piece to say. This scene being something that wouldn’t occur in nature makes it surrealistic. I feel that my work reflects how I see our society shaping our natural environment.

Diana Duperon
Photomorphic Arm
Color pencils
Highland Oaks Middle School, Miami
Grade: 8
Teacher: Anna Weiss

My artwork was inspired by the use of technology in our world. We, as a society, have come so close to our own machinery it’s as if we are one with it. I wanted to demonstrate that in my art, by reversing the roles in humans and our own technology. While making this artwork, I learned the importance of working in getting fine details to look as closely as to what you envisioned as possible. What makes this piece surrealism is the change in perspective as you look more closely at the artwork, and how it changes the more you look at it.

Evan Diaz
Reality vs Virtual Reality
Watercolor, color pencils and ink
Jose Marti Mast 6-12 Academy, Hialeah
Grade: 8
Teacher: Lucia Morales

Currently there’s an outbreak of forest fires in Australia. The media makes an entire scene about the situation instead of actually acting on it. The piece is a Game Boy playing a game about the Australia Fires, while the real fires are going on in the background behind the Game Boy.

Janessa Suarez
Plugged In
Markers, color pencils and pen
Jose Marti Mast 6-12 Academy, Hialeah
Grade: 8
Teacher: Lucia Morales

The phrase of people needing to get their “daily fix” of technology inspired me to make this piece. The girl is shown being low on battery, despite overflowing with battery acid. This is to show how some people can scroll through social media for hours and still feel the need to keep scrolling. She has wires coming from her fingers and ears, showing her want/need to stay plugged in. I used the surrealism technique of distorting the figure.

Sarah Perez
Life is Just a Game
Watercolor, color pencil, acrylic, marker
Jose Marti Mast 6-12 Academy, Hialeah
Grade: 8
Teacher: Lucia Morales

This piece was inspired by the Simulation Theory, which suggests that reality is just a simulation. The exhibit’s theme made me think of the theory because of how irrational it is. It also made me think of video games because they are essentially simulations. I used a variety of media in the piece, the process helped me learn how to make all of them work together.

Amena Hobbs
Connections
Watercolor, markers, color pencils and pen
Jose Marti Mast 6-12 Academy, Hialeah
Grade: 8
Teacher: Lucia Morales

Kendra Gaige
Captured
Color pencils
Lawton Chiles Middle Academy, Lakeland
Grade: 8
Teacher: Areti Clark

The thing that inspired me the most was that a phone is like a deep ocean. The farther you look in it, the deeper you get pulled. I’ve witnessed my friends and family sink too deeply into the world of technology. The exhibit theme was one of my favorites because I love surrealism. The thing that makes my artwork surreal is the eyes that are watching in the background and the reflection of the faceless person being captured in the phone. When someone looks at it, I want them to know a cellphone is all about watching and being watched. Because the subject of my piece is so engaged in technology, his brain and soul are melting away while the phone is slowly capturing his existence.

Allison Walkup
Bright Idea
Graphite, watercolor pencils
McNair Magnet Middle School, Rockledge
Grade: 8
Teacher: Jennifer Bergendahl

What I meant to convey through this art piece is that people are constantly looking for new innovative ideas, or ways to unload the future of technology. What they don’t realize is that it is not as hard as you think to find something creative that will benefit others, and the people that watch others struggle with this seem to not care or help them find the solutions.

Hayden Mucha
Finding Light
Acrylic paint, color pencils, watercolor pencils
McNair Magnet Middle School, Rockledge
Grade: 8
Teacher: Jennifer Bergendahl

The background of my artwork is what you may see before bloopers or when a screen breaks. This background therefore symbolizes getting it wrong or messing up. As shown in the artwork, a young boy is navigating through the “mist.” Although he is walking blind, he will eventually find light, despite his unknown wandering.

Sabrina Ferrell
Who left the faucet on?
Watercolor pencils, marker
McNair Magnet Middle School, Rockledge
Grade: 8
Teacher: Jennifer Bergendahl

Trying to think of what technology to use was hard. I tried to think of something I couldn’t live without, and I thought of washing my hands. So I used the faucet and incorporated the hands to come up with my artwork. The faucet represents the mold society puts on our creativity. Our creativity is represented as the music notes and color; with the hands showing the politicians and adults who were forced into this and are now forcing our youth.

Natalie Kertz
Humanities Downfall
Markers
McNair Magnet Middle School, Rockledge
Grade: 8
Teacher: Jennifer Bergendahl

What inspired me is how everyone uses technology now that we are becoming more advanced. My method for creating the work was to start from the deepest, darkest part of my imagination and work my way from there. The artwork is supposed to show how humanity is now being built on technology, and people use technology to support every need.

Sophia Yu
Psychic-Organic Technology
Marker, paint
Patriot Oaks Academy, St. Johns
Grade: 8
Teacher: Gina Partos

I was inspired to create this piece because of a dream that I had with many surreal concepts, which made me want to attempt to recreate the scene. I connect to this artwork because it makes me feel calm and hopeful about life with the overall atmosphere of the drawing. This work is important to me because it was one of my first complete digital illustrations. My work is surreal because it is a mix of fantastical and real. Some surrealist techniques present in my work are dislocation, scale, and symbolism. The jellyfish symbolize rebirth because once a jellyfish reaches adulthood, it can essentially revert itself back to its polyp, or juvenile, stage.

Jhordan Woorley
Life is Good?
Charcoal and colored pencils
Rochelle School of the Arts, Lakeland
Grade: 8
Teacher: Simoni Limeira-Bonadies

Everybody looks beautiful and happy on social media, but it is not always this way. Technology gave people power to fake or exaggerate their own happiness. What is behind the social media posts? Is life always that good? I used colored pencils and charcoal to represent the feelings behind the colorful fake happiness of social media.

Alessandro Gonzalez
Handphones
Watercolor and graphite pencil
Rochelle School of the Arts, Lakeland
Grade: 8
Teacher: Simoni Limeira-Bonadies

This artwork takes a critical view of the cellphones as extensions of the human body. From one side you have the world on your hand, from the other you become dependent and almost dysfunctional without a cellphone.

Sabrina St. Don
Scopophobia
Gouache, charcoal, markers
Rochelle School of the Arts, Lakeland
Grade: 8
Teacher: Brandie King

This piece is somewhere special in my heart. I used a dark blue gauche to show how little we know about the depths of the ocean itself. The charcoal area gives you a sense of the rotted past and the decaying future, the glitching magenta the flawed system of the government. The mechanical tyrannosaurus rex show us how quickly time flies and in the next moment we could be extinct. The wings make us feel that we can prosper despite all of the evil. The demon is all the bad in the world that we want to get rid of. There are fake faces all around us, yet we do nothing about it the majority of the time, which I tried to convey in the art.

Evarya Tucker
The Techrophobian Universe
Colored pencil, gouache paint, paste, oil pastels, fine tip markers
Rochelle School of the Arts, Lakeland
Grade: 8
Teacher: Brandie King

The Technophobian Universe portrays Medusa eating a hamburger that’s coming to life. This hamburger is filled with not only its normal ingredients, but also with technology! My work was created using several different media’s such as gouache paint, oil pastels, colored pencils, paste, and fine tip markers. The idea of this piece originated from the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. This movie was filled with advanced technology and food working together to construct cool creatures. To honor Dalí, I replaced Medusa’s eye with the melting clock. For Dali the melting clock resembles “The Persistence of Memory.“ Technology is knowledge, and knowledge is great to receive as long as you don’t have a fear of receiving it.

Sydney Davis
Groovy Juice
Colored pencil
Shorecrest Preperatory School, St. Petersburg
Grade: 8
Teacher: Christine Scoby

I struggled to create a surreal art piece I liked for a long time. When I was thinking of ideas I noticed my sister drinking some orange juice and got inspired. An image of what I wanted popped into my head so I put it down on paper. I started with a light pencil sketch getting darker with more detail and color as I went on, until finally – my surreal piece, Groovy Juice.

Natalie Canella
Eerie Record Player
Photo of 3D Art (popsicle sticks, recycled material)
Shorecrest Preparatory School, St. Petersburg
Grade: 8
Teacher: Christine Scoby

I was inspired by other surreal artists that used dislocation. The exhibit’s theme inspired me to create a piece of technology, except I didn’t want to create modern tech. Instead I created a record player. From making this, I learned that not everything is going to work on your first try. I used dislocation in my piece by putting an arm instead of a needle to play the record.

Caiden Schuller
Eyes on Tech
Photoshop collage
Shorecrest Preparatory School, St. Petersburg
Grade: 8
Teacher: Cindy Williams

I was inspired by our advancing society filled with technology. I took the irrational path, rather than the sublime, as I had formed ideas of several ways that technology affects our lives. Personally, I connect with the idea of endlessly staring at screens. I used juxtaposition and dislocation, while adding subtle elements of scale for dramatic effect. I learned how many changes a work of art goes through from draft to the final product.

Avery Manfrey
Millennial Mind
Pen and marker
Shorecrest Preparatory School, St. Petersburg
Grade: 8
Teacher: Cindy Williams

I was inspired by how my generation’s mind is wired, we revolve around our technology. Our brains are made to rely on technology, it is our source of communication, social media, games, etc. When I use my phone to talk to friends and use it for entertainment, my brain releases dopamine, which induces a feeling of happiness. The extremely vibrant colors used in my artwork expresses the happiness unleashed when using my phone.

Angie Palma
Didn’t See That Coming
Oil pastel, graphite, marker, Adobe Photoshop, digital print
South Miami K8 Expressive Arts Center, Miami
Grade: 8
Teacher: Sara Haley

In a world of technology, we are always stuck in a false world right in front of our eyes on the screen. I wanted to show how easily people get manipulated on social media, how technology that’s been fabricated by humans can influence the minds of people regardless of age. The subject of my artwork is this young girl who’s been attached to her phone for so long that the screen itself has reached out and is controlling her. The background is showing her screen and the many things she’s been doing on her phone.

Lien Martinez
Apple of My EYE
Oil pastel, color pencil, Adobe Photoshop, digital print
South Miami K8 Expressive Arts Center, Miami
Grade: 8
Teacher: Sara Haley

The invention of the cell phone has been very useful and necessary in an average person’s everyday life, but many conspiracy theories surround it. The theory about the government watching us through our phones is what inspired me to make this piece. I want the viewer to question if they are possibly sacrificing their privacy for convenience. I see this work as surrealist because of the use of juxtaposition of the eye in the phone where the camera would be to represent the “iPhone” watching our every move.

Kaylee Leidel
Colossal Communication Divide
Watercolor, graphite, color pencil, soy sauce, collage, Adobe Photoshop, digital print
South Miami K8 Expressive Arts Center, Miami
Grade: 8
Teacher: Sara Haley

What really inspired me was the evolution of technology, and how much it divides us as technology advances. I connect to this work because I feel that in modern society, we tend to socially distance ourselves. Instead of talking in person, face to face, we chat through screens, sending snaps, reposting stories, etc. My work suggests that things to go back to how they were in the past, where people would rather meet up in person, rather than talk through screens.

Sophia Regalado-McCoy
Tellie Time
Ball point pen, color pencil, marker, Adobe Photoshop, digital print
South Miami K8 Expressive Arts Center, Miami
Grade: 8
Teacher: Xonia Regalado

Technology took the world by storm and continues to be a huge influence on life today. Those of us growing up in this generation were introduced to technology at a young age, which has resulted in people our age being a little addicted to it. In my piece I was expressing the idea of technology affecting those with young minds, training us to not turn away from it, making us instantly drawn to it.

Melanie Bardia
On Off On Off On Off
Graphite
South Miami K8 Expressive Arts Center, Miami
Grade: 8
Teacher: Xonia Regalado

My piece represents how technology is becoming a part of us and taking over, but also enhancing our lives. The moths in my drawing symbolize the pursuit of light and the joy of being entertained by the light, just like humans are entertained by their technological devices. Although technology can be portrayed positively, I wanted my piece to have a nightmarish tone as well, which is why I included melting droplets.

Karla Fernandez
Two Sides
Digital drawing and painting, Adobe Photoshop, digital print
South Miami K8 Expressive Arts Center, Miami
Grade: 8
Teacher: Xonia Regalado

Technology has been a helpful tool for all of us, however, I also think about the bad side of technology, the type that can be damaging. The idea that came to my mind was a self-portrait with the good things technology helps with and those things not so helpful. As you can see, the technology that is being portrayed is a mobile phone. Today, so many people use them and mostly phones are portrayed as a distraction, but they can be helpful in life too.

Lauren Morejon
What Time Is It?
Acrylic paint, marker, newspaper, watercolor, digital collage, Adobe Photoshop, digital print
South Miami K8 Expressive Arts Center, Miami
Grade: 8
Teacher: Xonia Regalado

“What time is it?” is a very common question we’ve all said at least once in our lives. I decided to put a modern twist on these words, making this piece. This girl has a ‘internal clock’, so I decided to give her an alarm clock on her head, and she wears a watch. The girl can see what time it is, yet she still asks the question.

Scarlett Fratiin
Show’s Over
Colored pencil
Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Merritt Island
Grade: 7
Teacher: Lauren Sorey

I was inspired to do this piece of work because of my grandmother’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s. I watched my grandmother lose all of her memories. It was like a home movie projector whose tape broke during the showing, so I juxtaposed the projector in place of the person’s head. I also created a double-image to give a 3D/blurring effect because my grandmother describes having Alzheimer’s as being lightheaded and dizzy.

Tanzeela Osmani
Octopus Ink Pen
Colored pencils and watercolor
Union Academy, Bartow
Grade: 8
Teacher: Kaitlyn Reynolds

The Octopus Pen is an irrational technology that makes viewers feel confused and thoughtful. At first glance, they see a twisted octopus with a happy and bright scene. As the viewer continues to examine, they notice how the octopus is used as an ink source for a pen. I made this art piece to be a distraction from the viewer’s life and struggles. The Octopus Pen was created to make people happy and enjoy a small moment.

Analea Lopez
Computer Mousetrap
Colored pencils
Union Academy, Bartow
Grade: 8
Teacher: Kaitlyn Reynolds

What inspired me for this artwork was a mousetrap. I decided to do a play on words and instead of a real mouse I used a computer mouse. This exhibit’s theme influenced me by it inspiring me to think outside the box and do something that I normally wouldn’t do.

Alana Lugo
The Beginning and the End
Acrylic paint
Winthrop Charter School, Riverview
Grade: 8
Teacher: Jill Maxwell

The idea for my theme was to make the piece post-apocalyptic. I wanted it to represent the first coming of technology, the first electric device, as if it were a blessing. But at the same time, it could be viewed as if the device is now just a memory, after it caused the apocalypse depicted in my artwork. The theme of this exhibit has opened my mind to how the fear of technology has changed people. I have never been one to see the advancement of the cyber world as a fear, but now I understand. I was able to portray my fear of the end of the world and my fear of not knowing and losing memories into one piece.

Jaylynn Cruz
Lost Connection
Acrylic
Winthrop Charter School, Riverview
Grade: 8
Teacher: Jill Maxwell

The thing that inspired me to make this piece was the theme presented for the work, which inspired me to think about how technology provides isolation from the outside world. I connect to this because I often use technology as an escape. My method when creating this work was to just go with the flow and with whatever came to mind; in doing so I learned that painting is a time consuming practice. My work is surreal due to the methods of surrealism I incorporated, such as levitation and dislocation. I want the viewer to know that technology is both an escape and a prison. Too much of it will consume you, pulling you into a void of nothingness and filling you with a tangle of loneliness.

Ria Dimanlig
$3.42
Ink and watercolor
Winthrop Charter School, Riverview
Grade: 7
Teacher: Jill Maxwell

The exhibit theme of technology influenced me because it reminded me of how people today are seen and how they act: robotic. Sometimes they are confused and don’t know how to feel, so they distract themselves with materialistic things that could possibly make them happy for a while. The plants are a representation of an attempt to feel better, surrounding my subject with “nature.” I thought of how someone could feel empty, and then I thought of a robot being confused about their feelings. Plants and robots oppose one another. I want to show that sometimes materialistic things won’t always make you happy, and you should find people who can help you feel whole again. I experimented with surrealism techniques, such as juxtaposition.

Anna Foppe
Through the Plug
Acrylic paint
All Saints Academy, Winter Haven
Grade: 11
Teacher: Nancy Fonseca

Through the Plug captures a seemingly present yet unknown idea of life being created from technology. I was inspired by the idea of creating an online persona or avatar that symbolizes who you think you are. In this way, my piece is essentially the uploading and charging of a conscience. However, the charging cord sustaining this conscience is coiled around a chain, linking it to reality and preventing it from becoming its own being.

Jiayun (Lucy) Zhang
ElectroSkylineWatching
Digital art
All Saints Academy, Winter Haven
Grade: 11
Teacher: Nancy Fonseca

The first thing that comes to mind while contemplating this year’s theme is the future way of life between human beings and technology. Using transformation, the bird in the background and the sand form a semi-mechanical face with the eye in the sky. This represents the gradual cessation of independent thinking. Will unconsciously relying on technology too much, in the acquisition of convenience simultaneously cause the gradual loss of the essence of self? Hmmm…

Nicholas Gantz
The Mind and Soul
Colored pencil, watercolor, Pigma Micron pen, gel pen
Apopka High School, Apopka
Grade: 12
Teacher: Abbey Kish

In my piece, I felt it was necessary to explore the unbreakable connection between technology and human life, hence the cyborg-like figure made in micron pen. Juxtaposing the idea of a person that is part human and part technology helps to create my surrealistic idea. The importance of this piece is to acknowledge the connection between both entities as well as the fact that people can’t live without technology.

Amber Conklin
The Macabre World of Creation and Its Creator
Pencil, paper, eraser
Brandon High School, Brandon
Grade: 12
Teacher: Erin Mulvihill Luke

The use of technology has increased over this past decade, becoming so reliable that some people depend on it just to get through the day. This obsession with getting and having the advanced technology has become a part of us, slowly molding us to our obsessive desires.

Mizraim Carachure
The Fugitive
Marker and watercolor
Arthur & Polly Mays Conservatory of the Arts, Miami
Grade: 11
Teacher: Gerald Obregon

My artwork was inspired by a Japanese comic book artist named Hirohiko Araki. His works are always so bizarre and unique that they’ve inspired me to create something that represents his art. I wanted to create a character that swims into dreamlike worlds and to just create something unique. I want to show people that “with a huge imagination you can create anything your mind desires.”

Sureily Marestein
Sense of Self
Acrylic and color pencil
Arthur & Polly Mays Conservatory of the Arts, Miami
Grade: 11
Teacher: Gerald Obregon

The inspiration for my artwork represents how technology is dominating through time in the near future. It shows the transition of the human being replaced by the cyborg machines, giving them control and the transformation of Planet Earth. My future vision of the world around us would be “The coexistence between humans and machines.”

Jayda Calas
Jackpot!
Oil paint
Arthur & Polly Mays Conservatory of the Arts, Miami
Grade: 9
Teacher: Gerald Obregon

What inspired me was that I’ve been playing a lot of casino games recently, such as poker and blackjack. So I thought I’d try and portray the technology in a casino onto a person. The theme influenced me to try and make the painting as surreal as I could, instead of a normal slot machine I replaced images with hearts as if to represent her current mood. The machine is now part of her, it’s gambling how she’ll react or feel.

Kortney Reeser
Virtual Dream
Mixed media (ink, graphite, color pencil)
Citrus High School, Inverness
Grade: 11
Teacher: Nancy Klark

The image began to come together slowly. While researching images of technology, something caught my eye – a virtual reality headset. I started to think about what a strange thing the virtual world is – while it can be beautiful, there’s also the part of it that is terrifying. We defy our rational instincts and turn away from our safe surroundings intentionally to put ourselves in dangerous situations that we would otherwise avoid. So what is it that determines what is a dream and what is a nightmare? Perhaps it is but mere control.

Shelby Alcock
perfect the transmission
Ink
Citrus High School, Inverness
Grade: 11
Teacher: Nancy Klark

My piece illustrates a problem within our irrational technology. The media’s beauty standards for women are impossible to achieve. I hoped to communicate that these ubiquitous images of perfection can be seriously damaging to our physical and mental health.

Cassidy Millhouse
All Strings Attached
Digital photo of drawing/collage
Clearwater High School, Clearwater
Grade: 11
Teacher: Marcia Reybitz

This piece represents the presence of technology and media in our life. It is a mixed media piece, made with pencil, colored pencil, watercolor paint, acrylic paint, pen, yarn, and even a cd. The shattered cd helps present the mental state people may feel when drowning in modern technology.

Samantha Martinez
Short Circuited
Digital
Coral Reef Senior High,
Miami
Grade: 10
Teacher: Perri Cox

In my piece Short Circuited I was inspired by modern day media, mainly television and the news and the toll it can take on a person. Personally, when I watch the news they radicalize situations and it adds pressure and stress to my life and others. My method for creating this art piece was to imagine a visual representation of what it means to be glued to the media and being burnt out by it. What makes the piece surreal is that it has the use of techniques such as metamorphosis, double images, and scale. All these techniques show how the media can greatly affect a person and make them “short circuit.”

Raul Grasso
A Mindless Bunch
Pen and ink
Coral Reef Senior High,
Miami
Grade: 10
Teacher: Perri Cox

This piece is meant to illustrate a distorted and magnified version of the harsh reality that stems from current technology and a complete ignorance for the well-being of the environment that supports us. The man sitting on top of the car feels hopeless and may be the last person aware of the problems of this dystopian society. This beast could represent the monster that was created through the ignorance of humans due to spending an unreasonable amount of time distracted. This work is important to me because I truly sympathize with the man on the car; who, finally realizing he wasted his precious time on electronics, is too late and has no one to share what’s left of the world with.

Joel Obando
A Gear’s Infection
Scratch board
Coral Reef Senior High,
Miami
Grade: 10
Teacher: Perri Cox

My inspiration for this piece was the coronavirus outbreak and the picture shows how one gear can ruin a machine. It’s important to me because everyone that I know is scared of this outbreak. My method was to make gears connected to each other to show that every gear has a role in the machine. I learned that one person can infect an entire city with one touch. My art shows symbolism, I depicted the infection as something that was growing inside of it and spreading. I want viewers to know that infections could ruin our planet.

Alejandra Deng
The New Age
Oil paint and paint markers
Dr. Michael Krop High School, Miami
Grade: 12
Teacher: Johnnie Bess

Living in the age of technology, it is easy to become consumed in our own constructed, virtual reality. Nonetheless, it is important not to lose focus and go back to our roots. Sometimes the solutions to our problems can be found in nature. We just need to let ourselves see it.

Ali Malik
Crane
Colored pencil
Dr. Phillips High School, Orlando
Grade: 12
Teacher: Abigail Callaway

My artwork is composed to take a scene that happens every day but in a different, dynamic perspective. However, the concept is simple: the crushing defeat of a child from nearly obtaining a stuffed animal from a crane machine. I wanted to convey it as a story. Artists that can use storytelling are the best and I wanted to implement both style and substance to this piece. I used elements of art and storytelling in making the crane seem bigger than the child to emphasize importance and hierarchy in the composition when in real life it’s as big as the child’s palm.

Jorge Rodriguez
Depiction of a Modern Kunst
Collage and mixed media
Dr. Phillips High School, Orlando
Grade: 11
Teacher: Abigail Callaway

My piece showcases the insanity and obsession that our current society has with mass propaganda and views on capitalistic ideals, depicting a chaotic and claustrophobic city. This is a reference to the mass overpopulation in big cities such as New York, Chicago, etc. The piece shows my face hovering over the destructive yet glamorous city, as a reference to a heavenly Madonna in the site of destruction and chaos. As a whole, I wanted to capture the anxiety felt from the masses living in our fast-paced and blind society. I wanted to bring this serious issue in a surreal way, in that format it is seen on a larger than life scale which allows me to fully express my views in a manner that appears outrageous and unsettling.

Emily Wood
Double Exhaustion
Mixed media
Dr. Phillips High School, Orlando
Grade: 9
Teacher: Abigail Callaway

This piece, Double Exhaustion, is my take on a self-portrait in a surrealistic style. This work started as a colored portrait photo I took using two mirrors to give the visual that there was more than one of me in the picture. That, in turn, inspired me to create a more whimsical, emotive, and thought-provoking work of art. I created this piece using various mediums such as watercolors, Copic markers, and colored pencils. As an up and coming artist, this was a pivotal piece for me and motivated me to create more work in this particular style.

Skyla Gronigan
Time Date
Color pencil
Dr. Phillips High School, Orlando
Grade: 9
Teacher: Abigail Callaway

My piece, Time Date, is an image of a teddy bear and an eyeball on a date inside what looks like a brain filled with clocks and a heart. The clocks are coo-coo clocks, with birds flying out of them and trying to escape. This project was created when I was told to pick two random pieces of paper from a bin, and use those things to create a surrealism piece. The objects which I was told to include in the piece were clock, toy, and eye.

Ryley Smith
Emotional Outlet
Acrylic
Dunnellon High School, Dunnellon
Grade: 11
Teacher: Katrina Vitkus

I used oil pastels, colored pencil, and acrylic paint to create this piece. This idea evolved because based on the theme I felt that an outlet looked like a surprised face. Putting an actual face on an outlet created Surrealism using juxtaposition and dislocation.

Ryan DeAngelis
Oblivious Separation
Linocut
Howard W. Blake High School, Tampa
Grade: 9
Teacher: Molly Dressel

Technology is a part of everyone’s life, whether we like it or not. Our devices have been made such a large part of how people do things the effect that it has on us goes unseen or even ignored. Technology has made face to face communication seem almost obsolete. This piece represents this distance and how we lose ourselves and the ones we love.

Angelina Raslowsky
Escaping Reality
Acrylic paint and colored pencil
Lake Mary High School, Lake Mary
Grade: 11
Teacher: Karen LeBlanc

I was inspired by old VHS tapes and bubble TV’s. I merged that idea with Florida storms. Of course, also heavily inspired by the film, The Ring.

Rachelle Riego
Train of the Lost, Found, and Taken
Watercolor and gel pens
Lake Mary High School, Lake Mary
Grade: 11
Teacher: Karen LeBlanc

Reflecting upon my artwork, I was heavily inspired by my own interests in Japanese and Chinese culture. I love any sort of Asian Mythology or mythical creatures within these cultures, which inspired me to combine an old-fashioned train with a Chinese wish, mixing technology with myth and fantasy. Symbolically, I wished to show those who find their way, lose their way, or have their life taken away.

True Webber
Untitled
Watercolor
Manatee School for the Arts, Palmetto
Grade: 10
Teacher: Melissa Aldan

Susie Saint-Hilaire
Goose Elevator
Watercolor and Micron pens
Manatee School for the Arts, Palmetto
Grade: 10
Teacher: Melissa Aldan

What inspired me to create my work: the challenge. A challenge to go out of my comfort zone of drawing. A lesson I learned while making Goose Elevator was the realization that my art did not have to make sense. I did not have to stay in the limits of “why is,” but to know and keep the mindset of “why not.” I’ve never produced something that combines two subjects as one that didn’t make sense, that is what I’m proud of. I want the viewer to realize that you can jump out of the box and into space, because the mind is limitless.

Liberty Merkle
Piece By Piece
Watercolor and ink
Manatee School for the Arts, Palmetto
Grade: 10
Teacher: Melissa Aldan

As an artist, I wanted to show how technologies even as simple as a needle effected the world. The person portrayed in this piece has been ripped into pieces and is being sewn together, which realistically wouldn’t be possible. I used many types of watercolor techniques including value, splatter, and layering in my design. After drying I defined lines using ink. I used scale and levitation to make the piece more surrealistic.

Maizey Bedell
Technology Taking Over
Watercolor, Micron pens and colored pencils
Manatee School for the Arts, Palmetto
Grade: 10
Teacher: Melissa Aldan

What inspired me for this piece was how technology can consume us; the exhibit’s theme inspired me to mix surrealism with the scary side of technology. My method was watercolor techniques, soft edge, hard edge, and the use of water colored pencils. Doing this introduced me to surrealism. I don’t usually draw like this, but it was fun and interesting to get out of my comfort zone and get a bit messy with it. The surreal technique I used is symbolism. The iPad is forcing him to smile and seem like he is happy, while the iPhone in his hand is biting onto him so he can’t let go. Just like in reality how it’s hard to let go of our own phones, it’s showing how technology consumes us.

Taima Aviando
Distracted
Mixed media (acrylic paint and collage)
North Marion High School, Citra
Grade: 12
Teacher: Gloria Sed

There are many factors that can cause the mind to be irrational. For me, I tend to struggle with ADHD, which hinders my ability to work and focus on a task. My mind runs wild at times, obstructing my critical thinking skills. It feels as though the gears in my head have come to a halt. I wanted to show this by having random ideas causing the gears in my brain to jam up in smoke, preventing me from working due to all my thoughts dripping onto my assignment and blocking my vision. Meanwhile, the chaos of my surroundings is seeping through my “personal bubble.” All these factors within and around me result in me becoming distracted or “glitched.” Thus my mind and my thinking are becoming irrational.

Lizandra Davila
Skin Deep
Charcoal, flowers, graphite, soft pastels
Olympia High School, Orlando
Grade: 12
Teacher: Joanna Levine

The symbolic representation of “skin deep.” The composition suggests that the physical body is not the only thing about a person; the skin is a shell, flowers are the beauty of light and dark, and the skull represents the intellect.

Tiffany Lin
Find Me
Color pencil, acrylic painting, digital collage
Olympia High School, Orlando
Grade: 12
Teacher: Joanna Levine

I thought about the effects of technology on the current art scene, then I used technology to modify my art to intensify the piece. This work is important to me because it was one of my first experimental pieces. It showed me that there is more to art than what you can make with your hands. After I finished, I went on Photoshop to create new layers over the preexisting parts. Then I layered them over the piece to create emphasis. While it doesn’t seem surreal to the eye, the presence of technology is surreal. Everyday things we use, such as something as simple as Photoshop, are manifested in the mind of someone. There is nothing more surreal than reality.

Eva Brandt
Between Worlds
Watercolor
Olympia High School, Orlando
Grade: 11
Teacher: Joanna Levine

Our reliance on the ocean in response to pollution and our horrible treatment of our environment. I used light colors to create an airy weightless feeling and warmer colors for the fish. I also saturated the blues in order to put emphasis on the water.

Kati Arnez
Galaxy’s I Traveled
Digital drawing/painting
Olympia High School, Orlando
Grade: 11
Teacher: Joanna Levine

I emphasized a single color. The portrait has a sadness and somber expression, even though red is often thought of as harsh, angry and passionate.

Megan Xiao
Irrational Technology
Digital
Pine View, Sarasota
Grade: 9
Teacher: Louis Miller

This piece is named “Illogical Harmony” because it represents machines and animals living in the future together with pollution. I was inspired to make this piece due to the fact that it was surrealism. In my opinion, surrealism lets the artist have more creative freedom to draw from their unconscious mind. I made this piece using Photoshop, and some surrealist techniques I used were juxtaposition, in which I put biological organisms and machines together, and perspective, in which I had the machines “crawling” towards the viewer.

Katrina Siason
Modern Beauty
Digital
Sebring High School, Sebring
Grade: 9
Teacher: Steven Van Dam

There are people who love technology and obsess over it. Sometimes we care for it too much that we forget to care for ourselves too. Others place technology in an ideal spot in their lives and it can negatively affect our view of reality.

Cali Zimmerman
Losing Connection
Acrylic
Sebring High School, Sebring
Grade: 11
Teacher: Steven Van Dam

Through this piece I wanted to symbolize the effect of technology in our society today, specifically personal relationships. The illusion of the subjects fading into pixels is dramatized to show their separation due to technology consuming them and losing that direct connection shown through the intense eye contact. The image itself is very emotional with the feeling of loss and the relation to technology makes it applicable to issues we see today.

Anna Marie Ruano
Time Grab
Digital
Sebring High School, Sebring
Grade: 11
Teacher: Steven Van Dam

“Time Grad” illustrates the effects of technology on time. Using the technique of displacement, I showed how technology grabs our attention for extended amounts of time. Symbolically, I show how technology wastes our time.

Emma Fordham
Strangled by Technology
Gouache, watercolor, scrapbook paper, magazine clippings, stickers
Sebring High School, Sebring
Grade: 9
Teacher: Steven Van Dam

My art piece has four separate miniature paintings. Each incorporate various angles of the same person along with a main focus painting. This painting displays an exposed brain part resembling a natural brain holding a key. The majority of the brain is being taken over by wires leading down to the neck, strangling the human body. On those very wires are locks representing colors of social media apps.

Jamie Gonzalez
Technology Consumption
Ink and watercolor
South Miami Senior High – Magnet School for the Arts, Miami
Grade: 9
Teacher: Lizzie Hunter

The idea for this artwork came from people and their technology consumption. The food items drawn on the phones symbolize just how much we use technology to the point where we are quite literally consuming it. Personally I use technology a lot. The artwork reminds me how I should cut down the use of it a bit. Technology has many advantages but it shouldn’t take up every facet of our lives.

Isabela Puente
Coding
Graphite
South Miami Senior High – Magnet School for the Arts, Miami
Grade: 9
Teacher: Lizzie Hunter

The exhibit’s theme influenced me to do more research on surrealist techniques and artists, and create a message for my work. This artwork represents my ideas and views on technology in the modern era, and surrealism today. The melted and distorted, realistically drawn human faces are a part of what makes my work surreal; accompanied by the abstract background and floating binary code. I want the viewer to know that my work is a product of time, effort, and my exploration of technology and surrealism in the modern era.

Camila Diaz
Consumption of Television
Acrylic on canvas
South Miami Senior High – Magnet School for the Arts, Miami
Grade: 9
Teacher: Lizzie Hunter

For this artwork, I was most inspired by the consumption of television and technology nowadays. I connect to this artwork as a teen because I am one of the millions of people who use technology and it has played a major role in my life. I don’t only use technology for social media, but for entertainment as well, hence the television. This artwork would be considered surreal due to techniques such as scale and transformation.

Romy Perez
Banana Phone
Acrylic on canvas
South Miami Senior High – Magnet School for the Arts, Miami
Grade: 9
Teacher: Lizzie Hunter

I took the theme literally, deciding to do something that didn’t make sense like a banana as a phone. I connect with the piece because it shows imperfections in art. I used acrylics and primary colors. I learned that not everything has to make sense. My techniques were juxtaposition, scale, and levitation.

Ayalen Ortiz
Android with a Pearl Earring
Colored pencil
South Miami Senior High – Magnet School for the Arts, Miami
Grade: 10
Teacher: Lizzie Hunter

I wanted to make an iconic image from art history into something modern and futuristic. The exhibit’s theme helped me step out of my comfort zone and try doing something I wouldn’t have originally have thought of. This artwork is surreal because it combines two things that wouldn’t normally go together through juxtaposition.

Omayraly Santigao
Vision
Acrylic
Tohopekaliga High School, Kissimmee
Grade: 11
Teacher: Jackelyn Adkins

I struggle a lot with myself emotionally and tend to feel like I am alone, but I turn around and there are my art supplies. No matter how I feel, art always makes it better. I want my viewers to know that. If you are going through something, take it to your art. Forget about the world for a second and pick up your pencil. Not only in this piece, but in my art in general, I try to show that you can make something beautiful even when everything around you may be ugly. Life gets better, I promise.

Kaylynn LaPrarie
Floating Tunes
Acrylic
Tohopekaliga High School, Kissimmee
Grade: 10
Teacher: Jackelyn Adkins

I was inspired by 80s cars and music as well as other surrealist artists to paint this piece. I wanted to convey a fun highway in the sky feeling by painting vinyls, VHS tapes and old-fashioned cars floating in the air. This highway in the sky was influenced by the levitation technique of surrealism.

Julia Da Silva
Walking Out of Time
Acrylic
Tohopekaliga High School, Kissimmee
Grade: 12
Teacher: Jackelyn Adkins

What inspired me to design this painting were science fiction movies. I wanted to create something different that mixes surrealism with action and science fiction, as if the with the advanced technology the astronauts were visiting an unknown planet: where animals are giants and there is a whole new world that we could never imagine. For this work I did a collage and then drew and painted it. I used the techniques of dislocation, juxtaposition, and scale, and learned how to create a “dream-like” feel to my painting.

Alyssa Elliott
Remote Frogging
Acrylic
Tohopekaliga High School, Kissimmee
Grade: 12
Teacher: Jackelyn Adkins

Ribb-It, a remote designed to generate everyone’s favorite amphibians anywhere they need! With a simple push of a button, you can have frogs everywhere from the Arctic tundra to the dry Sahara. Ribb-It’s irrationality comes from the delicate nature of frogs and how they can only survive in specific conditions. Having a device that could put frogs in potentially unlivable conditions is unnecessary and not to mention completely bizarre!

Maria Cox
The Truth About our Survival
Acrylic, ballpoint pen, collage Trinity Preparatory School, Winter Park
Grade: 10
Teacher: Irina Ashcraft

My piece shows that as of now we rely on technology just as much as other humanly needs. Water is one of the main things we need to survive and in this it’s been replaced with apps that revolve around technology, this making technology a part of us and what we need to survive.

Sarah Bachrach
The Rebirth of Venus
Collage and pencil
Trinity Preparatory School, Winter Park
Grade: 9
Teacher: Irina Ashcraft

The internet plays a large role in our lives. Many people now do not take the time to visit museums to view artwork, but simply search for them online or purchase cheap copies of their favorites. My piece represents how artwork is rarely viewed like it used to be, in museums, but rather online. I incorporated the UPC codes to show how the need to see art in person has declined because now one can purchase it easily. The visual arts have been greatly changed by our use of the internet.

Elaine Peng
Lost in Virtual Space
Ballpoint pen and marker Trinity Preparatory School, Winter Park
Grade: 10
Teacher: Irina Ashcraft

My artwork is an observance of the current gaming obsession that has taken hold of teens in this generation. Along with current developments, such as VR (virtual reality), the future is becoming more accessible to younger faces. This piece represents a possible outcome of the human consciousness that could very well be in our near future.

Nina Cuesta
Old Juice
Color pencil
Westminster Christian School, Palmetto Bay
Grade: 11
Teacher: April Sharpe-Shirk

My piece was built upon an observation I made regarding the way people often attempt to reinvent themselves, hoping to find purpose in a new sense of identity. The theme being Irrational Technology, I strove to create an absurd connection between the simplicity of a lemon juicer and the intricacy of a human.

Nathan Jones
Consequences
Graphite and colored pencil
Westminster Christian School, Palmetto Bay
Grade: 9
Teacher: April Sharpe-Shirk

I was inspired to create this piece by the fact that trees are vital to our survival and we rely on them to breathe, yet we tear them down in mass numbers every day. This piece was made to try to portray what that future may look like if we continue to destroy the world’s rainforest and trees in this manner. It was very interesting to develop an irrational technological item that may be the result of actions we don’t take now to preserve the world’s forests. For this reason, I used only graphite for the entire piece, only coloring the plant to emphasize our need for these forests.

Krista Hannon
Out of this World
Graphite & colored pencil
Westminster Christian School, Palmetto Bay
Grade: 9
Teacher: April Sharpe-Shirk

I chose to have this little girl dream of outer space because I have always been fascinated with galaxies and other planets. In addition, I thought the vibrant colors would really make my piece pop. The theme of Irrational Technology challenged me to think outside the box and use my imagination. It inspired me to show what life could be like if others were able see our hopes and dreams.

Camila Valdes
Hubris
Watercolor & ink
Westminster Christian School, Palmetto Bay
Grade: 9
Teacher: April Sharpe-Shirk

The inspiration behind my piece comes from months of researching a science project. Sifting through countless articles about cloning, complex gene editing, and developments in artificial intelligence led me to reflect on how modern science have given humanity as a whole a form of hubris; almost a god complex. I created this piece with the intention of showing how humans are readily willing to manipulate these delicate variables in nature, even ourselves.

Ariel Brown-Ogha
Adelina
Graphite
Westminster Christian School, Palmetto Bay
Grade: 9
Teacher: Daniela Rojas

Renaissance paintings inspired my work. The exhibit’s theme of Irrational Technology promoted the incorporation of eccentricity. It’s important to me because it reflects the beauty of woman throughout time. In this work, I utilized a range of graphite pencils. I learned to be patient to achieve desired results. The surrealistic aspects is the woman’s body as the handle of a pocket watch, with the watchface behind her face. I want my viewer to grasp a sense of nobility when looking through Adelina’s eyes.

Lili Diaz-Silveira
Brain Dead
Watercolor and colored pencil
Westminster Christian School, Palmetto Bay
Grade: 10
Teacher: Daniela Rojas

What inspired me to create this piece was a tree in my backyard. I thought of the roots, the life the tree lives and especially the trunk that holds. I visualized the tree as a brain. How it branches out and grows day by day, filling with knowledge and life. The title “Brain Dead”, is portrayed in my piece because it is shown by the crane pulling the tree out of the ground. Trees are living things and the crane represents the technology and ways we are slowly killing our whole planet.

Gabriela Cortes-Arroyo
Anxious
Pen, ink, watercolor
West Port High School, Ocala
Grade: 11
Teacher: Jennifer Moore

The never ending void that is technology is depicted through pen and ink work and watercolor. It has twists and turns that make us weigh our decisions and values. Most of us want to be free of its mental grasp, but can feel the eyes of our followers watching. What will determine our next move? Will it be fate or our own judgement?

Jasmine Cosimini
Youth and Chaos
Mixed media
West Port High School, Ocala
Grade: 11
Teacher: Jennifer Moore

The creation of my piece represents the part of us that has been lost in our youth as technology progresses during our lifetime. I find myself feeling heavy waves of nostalgia more and more as I continue to grow as a person, finding that society has taken away the innocence and worry-free time of childhood. We work hard and then detach from our reality with technology. Its like we float around lifelessly throughout space. These different components all make up my piece. The toad, the world, the bottle, and the infinite outer space that swallows everything right up. That makes everything insignificant. This piece holds a special place in my heart, and introduced me to the world of surrealism.

Shannon O’Leary
Kodomo No Koro
Colored pencil
West Port High School, Ocala
Grade: 11
Teacher: Jennifer Moore

The concept of irrational technology immediately brings a sense of isolation and separation from those around us. This is symbolized by the bubbles; however, it is sublime in that it brings countless possibilities. This whimsy is shown by how playful and inviting the colors of the bubbles seem as well as the images that they portray. The reference to childbirth allocates how the progression of technology has altered such natural processes.

Hannah Barker
A Pixelated Reality
Digital
Braden River High School, Bradenton
Grade: 11
Teacher: Bill Ferrell

When I got this prompt the first thing that came to mind was how humans rely so much on unnecessary technology. After doing some research, the rising popularity of Virtual Reality surprised me! This left me pondering why a person would want to engage in a “fake world” when there is a beautiful one around us. I decided on a digital piece as the medium to demonstrate how technology is in use today and to display a more “pixelated” image. In the image, I used loose brush strokes to emphasize the movement and change in seasons in the background, while using vibrant colors in the VR mask to create attention/distraction towards the technology rather than environment.