“Obsession, Disintegration and Reinvention”
Initiated in 1985, this annual juried art exhibition presents work by Pinellas middle and high school students that explores ideas and visions similar to those of Salvador Dalí and the surrealists. This year’s theme is “Obsession, Disintegration and Reinvention.”
Salvador Dalí underwent key transformative stages throughout his life, encompassing periods of obsession, disintegration and reinvention, all reflected in his artistic style, techniques and self-expression. With these broad themes, The Dali Museum invites students to explore one or more of these concepts in their own artwork.
Dalí was renowned for his obsessions, ranging from his Catalan landscapes to Millet’s painting The Angelus to his wife, Gala. These obsessions pervade his art and writings, with some persisting throughout his life. Dalí’s obsessions fueled his creative genius. Obsession invites students to reflect on and visually explore their key fixations.
Following the dropping of the atomic bomb, Dalí became fascinated with the concept of disintegration. Disintegration implies the fragmentation of a subject, which Dalí represented visually through dissolution and pixelation. The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory (1954) is a reinterpretation of his celebrated 1931 work The Persistence of Memory. He literally shatters his original composition, indicating how the world had changed. Disintegration challenges students to explore how an object or concept can be decomposed visually.
Reinvention is at the core of Dalí’s persona and art. Fleeing Europe during World War II, Dalí reinvented himself to appeal to the American public. Turning his back on modern art, he drew inspiration from the Renaissance and Catholicism, and he rebranded himself through his iconic symbols like his mustache and melting clocks. Reinvention invites students to reflect on how change can be expressed visually, whether relating to their personal identity or the essence of their subject.
The Student Surrealist Art Exhibitions, Competition and Receptions are funded by a generous gift from an anonymous donor and in part from a program endowment fund established by the Craig and Jan Sher Philanthropic Fund. Additional support for this educational program comes from our Museum corporate partner Bloomin’ Brands.
Middle School
Alphabetical order by school
(Click images to enlarge)
Eliana Ramos
Bloody Circus
Digital Art
Academie Da Vinci
Art Teacher: Wendy Stanziano
Grade 6
My artwork is called Bloody Circus and was inspired by a drawing made by my art teacher and the current book I am reading called Coraline. The words that I used for inspiration were abuse, blood, kill and joy. My digital collage depicts clowns performing acrobatics who kill their young audience members. Their bodies are then trapped in mannequins, causing them to have to watch the clown’s performances forever.
Bryce Winters
Skelly Boy
Marker, Colored Pencil
Academie Da Vinci
Art Teacher: Wendy Stanziano
Grade 7
My artwork was created using marker, pencil, and a little bit of imagination. Skelly Boy represents regeneration. He begins to regenerate after he eats a spoonful of the city below. One of my inspirations for this art piece was how big and small a city can be.
Brayden West
Zoochosis
Colored Pencil
Azalea Middle School
Art Teacher: Erin Kivett
Grade 8
I’m really obsessed with a video game called Zoochosis, which mixes animals with parasites, has horror elements, and deals with the uncanny. So, I decided to make a different creature, and merge animal characteristics into one body. It’s shows reinvention because I thought it would be awesome to merge parasite forms of different animals, into one being for my artwork.
Selena Duong
The Disintegration of Reality
Painting
Carwise Middle School
Art Teacher: Lori Manning
Grade 8
Isabella Fernandez
Sardine Takeover
Watercolor
Clearwater Fundamental Middle School
Art Teacher: Karen Santangelo
Grade 7
Zosia Janicka
Field of Eyes
Acrylic, Watercolor, Colored Pencil, Marker
Dunedin Highland Middle School
Art Teacher: Alicia Urbano
Grade 8
I responded to the exhibits theme by using the elements of “obsession, disintegration and reinvention” all through this piece. I responded to Salvador Dali’s work with the metamorphosis and obsession I used all throughout the piece. I’m obsessed with fish and used them a lot throughout the artwork. The fish disintegrating into a sort of banana peel. Part of the sardine tin is reinvented into a zipper. I used metamorphosis, juxtaposition and dislocation in my work.
Lena Black
Feast
Digital Art
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Jenna Hasbrouck
Grade 8
Feast was created out of a series of subconscious thoughts. I used digital collage to juxtapose images to create a composition, digitally painted details, and modified the color palette to create a surreal landscape. The scale of the hummingbirds helps create the narration of the full picture.
Ryla Faulkner
Sink the Shot
Marker
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Sara Black
Grade 8
While I was playing pool, I had my first ever “Art-brain” vision when my dad’s girlfriend Sara was teaching my sister how to position herself correctly. It was exciting because I felt like a real artist. I asked Sara to stand back in the position and I took a photo, that photo turned into my surrealism project!
Sophie Guinn
Unplugged
Painting
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Jenna Hasbrouck
Grade 8
Ravyn Liburd
Cyber Life, Off the Grid
Digital Art
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Kathy Talbot
Grade 7
Stella Mares
Crossbreed
Mixed Media
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Kathy Talbot
Grade 8
He is a rare hybrid water dog representing my favorite show, Uncle Grandpa, I made this using cut up pieces of water colored paper and then I decorated it, uncle grandpa happy uncle.
Elaia Milicevic
Falling Apart
Drawing
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Kathy Talbot
Grade 6
Analina Moore
Doors to the Unknown
Drawing
John Hopkins Middle
School
Art Teacher: Sara Black
Grade 8
Valentina Garcia Presas
The Ballad of a Carnivore
Painting
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Jemma Hasbrouck
Grade 8
Cabella Seay
Ladybugs Galore
Mixed Media
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Sara Black
Grade 8
My art is inspired by my mom, who loves who loves ladybugs; she has tons of items that are ladybugs or ladybug themed. I felt that her love for ladybugs could be good for the theme of obsession. And the background was recommended by my art teachers, who have both helped me make this piece.
Imogen Shuler
From the Decay
Mixed Media
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Sara Black
Grade 8
The mixed media drawing (and collage) of me. For a project in class that we did about us! I love nature as well and being in it. Nature engulfs me in all its beauty and all the different ways it can be seen for everyone. The mushrooms show that I’m growing in many ways and the waterfall (the hair) follows the flow of the rest of the drawing. The image also has symbolism of the circle of life. The mushroom, leading your eyes to the fossil, the bones showing you to the waterfall. Then, eventually, you find the mushrooms once more.
Lanna Daloiso
The Observers
Colored Pencil, Watercolor
Largo Middle School
Art Teacher: Anthony Powell
Grade 8
This art piece is based off what effects that war causes to the habitat and animals around it and how much destruction is caused with how much war had consequences and not just to the people fighting in the war. The point of making it was to mix my two likings into an art piece while sending out a message.
Ashley Zambrano
Mr. Crab
Sculpture
Largo Middle School
Art Teacher: Anthony Powell
Grade 8
The reason I created this artwork is because I was out one day on the beach with my family and my sister noticed something in the sand. We shined some light on it and saw it was a crab. My little sister was scared and my mother told us not to touch it or it would pinch us. I didn’t really care it was so cute I thought it was worth a little pain I wanted to pick it up and take it home but my mother said no. I knew she was right I couldn’t take the crab from its home so I decided to leave it be and went home.
Austin Carbonneau
Molded Stress
Graphite
Madeira Beach Fundamental Middle School
Art Teacher: Kurt Schuster
Grade 7
Molded Stress is a self-portrait that reflects my everyday struggles as a teen. I admire Salvador Dali. He is my favorite artist of all time. The surrealist techniques I used were juxtaposition, dislocation, levitation (petals falling), and symbolism. The eyes symbolize my parents and teachers always expecting something from me. The spider means hope that I will continue to improve. The hands mean mental struggles. The flowers mean love and connection from my parents, teachers, and friends. Finally, the falling petals symbolize when my heart feels broken from painful events such as the loss of my cat.
Giada Elkins
Dark Heart
Painting
Madeira Beach Fundamental Middle School
Art Teacher: Kurt Schuster
Grade 8
Raleigh Miller
The Enigmatic Delusions of Time and The Charisma of Fear
Madeira Beach Fundamental Middle School
Art Teacher: Kurt Schuster
Grade 7
My work relates to one of mankind’s enigmatic obsessions, the obsession with time and the concept of running out of it. Some people are reverential to time, while others view it as a source of trepidation. As a repercussion of these beliefs, some people attempt to reconstruct and break themselves down as symbolized by the man worshipping the clock and the grotesque eye disintegrating into more eyes.
Milo Potts
Mettle
Drawing
Madeira Beach Fundamental Middle School
Art Teacher: Kurt Schuster
Grade 8
Coy Walton
Monkey
Drawing
Madeira Beach Fundamental Middle School
Art Teacher: Kurt Schuster
Grade 8
This is my depiction of a known photo of Kurt Cobain with a cigarette in his mouth and his daughter, Frances, with a binky in her mouth. I utilized symbolism by switching the objects in their mouths. Kurt Cobain has a binky in his mouth to symbolize that he did not grow up the way that he deserved. His daughter, Frances, has a cigarette in her mouth to symbolize how his addictions affected her childhood as well.
Dahlia Nagel
Smoked Meat Trypophobia
Marker
Mangrove Bay Middle School
Art Teacher: Karen Haraminac
Grade 6
I was interested in the idea of tapping into subconscious thoughts and experimented with the lines and shapes. I let my mind wander and then the oval shape kind of looked like an oven to me so I converted it into a pizza oven. The lines and shapes at the bottom transformed into weird looking legs. The dots in the background are meant to be the moon disintegrating. I added the pterodactyl and the face behind the ostrich because I liked the absurdity of them sharing space with my creature.
Tina Le
Heart Strings
Colored Pencil, Ink
Meadowlawn Middle School
Art Teacher: Edith Sorensen
Grade 8
I drew this because I wanted people to be able to look at my drawing and feel how I felt at that time. I felt overwhelmed and controlled by life and I wanted to be able to put that on paper for others to see and interpret.
Celeste Rodriguez
Accidental Destruction
Drawing
Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School
Art Teacher: Daniel Kervin
Grade 8
I have a desire to make artwork featuring my own characters, like in this artwork. I like the idea of nativity and innocence leading to destruction which is why I named my piece Accidental Destruction. I’m an 8th grader with a love for art.
Emily Rodrigues
I See This Horrifying Creature in my Dreams!
Drawing
Osceola Middle School
Art Teacher: Dwayne
Shepherd
Grade 8
Nadiya Spillane
I’m Obsessed with Growing Old and Ugly!
Painting
Osceola Middle School
Art Teacher: Dwayne Shepherd
Grade 8
Rachel Giacobbe
An Eye For An Eye & A Leg For A Leg
Colored Pencil
Pinellas Academy
Art Teacher: Ariana Myers
Grade 8
My artwork is a literal interpretation of the saying “an eye for an eye and a leg for a leg.” The Surrealist technique I used was reinvention and transformation. It shows change because neither of them have eyes or legs anymore. My artwork is surreal because we don’t literally cut off our legs and gouge out our eyes.
Ashwina Angerstein
Coming of the Cobra
Drawing
Pinellas High Innovation
Art Teacher: Nancy Flannery
Grade 8
Emily Wagoner
Hand Disintegration
Colored Pencil and Graphite
Pinellas High Innovation
Art Teacher: Nancy Flannery
Grade 8
For my art, I chose hand disintegration because I enjoy creating pieces with a bit of gore (though not always). I aim to think outside the box with my work. Inspired by the idea of exploring unique concepts, I added blood and shading to enhance the impact. My teacher’s suggestion helped me make it more dynamic and less predictable. I wanted to depict something rarely imagined- human body parts disintegrating.
Chloe Moon
Faces and Shapes
Drawing
Pinellas Park Middle School
Art Teacher: Sandra Robinette
Grade 7
Mia Blue
Signs of Death, Sights of Rebirth
Drawing
Safety Harbor Middle School
Art Teacher: Hilman Chan
Grade 8
I drew an ouroboros that has the body of a moth in front of a white flower. The boarder consists of grass, white flowers, and white butterflies. My artwork shows metamorphosis by being a creature made of a snake eating its tail (an ouroboros) and being part moth. I named this artwork “”Signs of Death, Sights of Rebirth”” because I used forms of symbolism of death (white flowers and moths) and a symbol of infinity or infinite life (an ouroboros).
Micaelyn Cummings
Shapeshifter
Drawing
Safety Harbor Middle School
Art Teacher: Hilman Chan
Grade 8
I was inspired by common woodland animals and mythical creatures; owls, deers, and then unicorns. I responded to the exhibit’s surrealism theme by creating something that does not exist. An element of my work that connects with reinvention and metamorphosis, aspects of surrealism and Salvador Dali’s work, is my shapeshifting animal. It is a combination of three animals. Disintegration is also connected to my work, as my shapeshifter is being stabbed by its own horn.
Clark Lindhardt
Not-So-Merry-Golds
Digital Art
James B. Sanderlin K-8
Art Teacher: Gabbi Roland
Grade 7
I really enjoyed making my art, it was a wonderful experience. Something that inspired me was the fictional “hanahaki” disease. The disease is beautiful in a strange way, the person’s body (mostly the lungs) fill with flowers that they begin to cough up. Another thing that inspired me was the idea of someone falling apart and turning into ribbons.
Angelique Uy
Torment
Digital Art
James B. Sanderlin K-8
Art Teacher: Gabbi Roland
Grade 7
What inspired me for this piece was the Greek story of Medusa and the surrealistic way she can turn people into stone from a glance. When first starting, I felt the exhibit’s theme allowed for many approaches and would be cool to make artwork for, and I’m glad to say I was correct. My art uses obsession and transformation because of my love for Greek mythology and Medusa’s transition from human to snake.
Anarella Aguirre-Ramirez
Don’t Float Away
Colored Pencil, Watercolor, Ink
Tarpon Springs Middle School
Art Teacher: Gabrielle Medina
Grade 8
The older you grow the less you remember about the past memories. I added mirrors reflecting the girl’s past and memories. I felt as if she was in the water her memories would float away. Her being under water can also mean she’s drowning in her own memories. Sometimes you just need to make new ones and forget the bad ones let them float away.
Ella Meraz
Drowning Skeleton
Drawing
Tarpon Springs Middle School
Art Teacher: Michelle Posada
Grade 6
This is a drowning skeleton with vines and I was inspired by the say of the dead skeletons.
Dina Paul
Washed Up Memories
Mixed Media with Embroidery
Tarpon Springs Middle School
Art Teacher: Gabrielle Medina
Grade 8
Nothing was intentional, yet everything had a reason. From a young age we are affected by the world around us; down to the people, down to specific core memories. Though at the time it may have seemed irrational, it followed us through as we got older. Maybe it was times where we looked into the sky and pretended to see shapes out of clouds, or when you would find random objects on the beach. Sometimes it could be the toy you accidentally left behind. It makes us who we are today (no one will ever share the same exact memories you make).
Arianna Bolden
When You Sea Me Underwater
Colored Pencil
Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School
Art Teacher: Nina Caruso
Grade 8
What I did for my project is a camera under water. The water and sea animals and the clown, represent obsession, the camera represents the reinvention, the organs you can see in the clown and the cracks in the camera represent the decay part of the project.
Maya Chia
Melted Passion
Colored Pencil
Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School
Art Teacher: Nina Caruso
Grade 8
In “Melting Passion” I wanted to capture how it felt to want to improve in so many hobbies, yet lack the passion to do so. I used colored pencils lightly to represent the love I used to have for the hobbies, but contrasted it with the smoke. The smoke represents my dedication to old past times and how the excitement I once felt about them slowly flickers out over time. Meanwhile, the objects stuck in the wax are all the things I used to love or grew out of. It shows that even through I don’t like they’re still part of me.
Emily Fernandez
Mono No Aware
Colored Pencil, Acrylic Marker
Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School
Art Teacher: Nina Caruso
Grade 8
“Mono no aware” is a Japanese term directly meaning, “the pathos of things.” It refers to the transience of beauty, and a bittersweet awareness of the world’s impermanence. This idea reflects an obsession with nature and beauty, but the inevitable disintegration of all things. I depicted this by illustrating the passing of spring and reinvention through the coming of summer. A poet watches cherry blossom petals fall, although the Japanese fan, wind chime, and hidden cicada symbolize that summer is near. His haiku translates to, “Even though cicadas sing, the cherry blossoms remain.”
Victoria Malm
Over Time
Drawing
Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School
Art Teacher: Nina Caruso
Grade 7
I chose this title because it explores how we learn stories of people and their impact on the world, which is why I added the bookshelf as symbolism. I also used skeletons and various body parts to illustrate how disintegration develops in my work. Clocks and hourglasses are used throughout to indicate that time is limited, and the crow and snake add to the overall sense of decay and atmosphere I was aiming for.
Alan Smith
I’m Okay, Really
Digital, Graphite
Mixed Media
Tyrone Middle School
Art Teacher: Karissa James
Grade 7
In this art piece, the inspiration was the common man’s bottled up regrets, everyone has a few that they just don’t look at anymore. I used 2 of the prompts, obsession in the worry of your personal image, and disintegration in the person’s mental state falling apart. The surreal techniques I used the Paranoiac-critical method in my artwork, creating the feeling of never being able to share what lurks inside your head.
High School
Alphabetical order by school
Selena Ferrer
Always and Forever
Mixed Media
Boca Ciega High School
Art Teacher: Mark Villinger
Grade 11
This painting embodies the extraordinary internal connection that obsession withholds. It is not only representing the beauty of true love and bonding but also relays the almost frightening, glued-shut aspect of feeling obsession take over.
Jaylen Ross
Queen, Beehold
Digital Art
Boca Ciega High School
Art Teacher: Taylor Crosland
Grade 11
Sophia Blunn
Piachere
Printmaking, Colored Pencil, Gouache
Calvary Christian High School
Art Teacher: Kristin Neufarth
Grade 11
When creating this piece, I aimed to challenge my previous standards towards perfection when creating art. I layered ghost prints of my skeletal linocut to exemplify our predisposition to fit ourselves within expectations; the bones representing finite aspects. The obsession to stay within these self-constructed boundaries is reflected in the specifically stretched pieces of flesh. The combination of gouache paints and colored pencils exhibit both transformation and transparency in the piece.
Shalle Cabanas-Hernandez
Sensory Overload
Digital Art
Clearwater High School
Art Teacher: Megan Hoffman
Grade 12
Jayden Carabello
Split Person
Sculpture
Clearwater High School
Art Teacher: Megan Hoffman
Grade 12
Elorda Colamarino
The Daughter of Man
Digital Art
Clearwater High School
Art Teacher: Megan Hoffman
Grade 10
I was inspired by Rene Magritte’s work the Son of Man. I wanted to reimagine this piece of art in a modern setting, and reframe the conversation to include a woman as the focal point of the work.
Mia-Lynn Dees
4 Years 257 Days 00:51:27
Drawing
Clearwater High School
Art Teacher: Clayton Burkey
Grade 12
Lillian Welch
Reflection of my Intimate Demolition
Drawing
Clearwater High School
Art Teacher: Clayton Burkey
Grade 10
Annabelle Wininsky
It’s Eating Me Alive
Drawing
Clearwater High School
Art Teacher: Clayton Burkey
Grade 12
Payton Fulmer
Natural Craving
Acrylic, Watercolor, Colored Pencil
Countryside High School
Art Teacher: Allyson Leja
Grade 10
Like a moth drawn to a flame, the Venus flytrap attracts its victims with its sweet disguise. It is the natural craving for that sweetness in life that leads to the untimely demise of the unsuspecting. This phenomenon inspired me. For this piece I used a random word generator and ended up with the words: doll, broken, moth, Venus, and eyes and incorporated them to fit the surrealist themes and the prompt of obsession, disintegration, and reinvention.
Gabriel Devera Jimenez
Cities in the Stratosphere
Acrylic, Marker
Dunedin High School
Art Teacher: Sal Gulino
Grade 11
This piece is about mixing unlikely elements together, as you never see a building next to the clouds unless it’s a skyscraper. The buildings are inspired by comic book city buildings and were done to create a visual of a grandeur city scape in the clouds.
Kaithlyn Gayas
Self-Obsession Through the Ages
Digital, Acrylic
Dunedin High School
Art Teacher: Sal Gulino
Grade 12
This artwork portrays my constant change in my self-perception using myself as the subject in different art styles. From left to right, it shows my own art style, expressionism, stippling, and cubism.
Kira Lopez
Sludge Screams
Digital Art, Ink
Dunedin High School
Art Teacher: Anne Marie Shaughnessy
Grade 10
Inspired by a playthrough of Resident Evil Village, I approached this artwork with the idea of creating pure ink-like art. The game’s black goo-like substance reminded me of ink, and as a fan of both horror and comedy, I wanted to blend these genres. My goal was to craft a drawing in a traditionally grotesque art style with a playful twist.
Mckenzie Skaggs
Des(S)Ert Swim of Indulgence
Ceramics, Acrylic, Marker, Watercolor
Dunedin High School
Art Teacher: Sal Gulino
Grade 11
My piece was influenced by exploring the combination between sweets, the ocean, and life all in one. The man on the cake was used to resemble swimming throughout an ocean of sweetness. The doughnut is resembling a duck swimming to chase a man, also swimming throughout the sweetness of the ocean. I explored the combination with different vibrant and pastel colors throughout these pieces to give it a unique looking representation of the ocean; as if it is sweet and a release of dopamine to someone exploring it.
Alaina Campagna
From Curiosity To Chaos
Drawing
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Eileen Iacobucci
Grade 12
Caught up in our obsession with discovery, society is beginning to go too far. With current controversial inventions like AI, I wonder if we are changing the world when perhaps the world doesn’t always need changing. I represented these changes with the moths that flutter about the piece, in such an abundance that they overwhelm it—just as the new inventions of today are overwhelming the world. The man represents society’s obsession with knowledge and curiosity, and the book that replaces his head shows how his obsession with gaining knowledge has taken over his mind.
McKayla Carwile
The Curse of Narcissus
Mixed Media
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Rob Golombek
Grade 12
Narcissus is the reinvention of self-obsession. In the Greek mythos, Narcissus dies by a pool gazing at his own reflection he was madly in love with. He had no concerns for anything else, dying for the image he would never be able to touch. Bats are often depictions of demons feeding on the mind. The bats of Narcissus feed on this obsession, so all that remains is a disintegration of your very being. It’s a curse.
Emily Crossland
Mountain Deity
Sculpture
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Nate Greenwood
Grade 10
My “Mountain Deity” is constructed as a clay volcano erupting with a nearby town being flooded with lava. Climate change and the volcanic eruptions around the world inspired me to make my Mountain Deity. To give my volcano more of a realistic look I use hot glue as my based for my lava and painted it using red and orange metallic paints bringing a lively look to this piece, but also a feeling of destruction to the town.
Reese Highman
Self Built
Marker
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Eileen Iacobucci
Grade 12
What will our future self-look like? As children, we reconstruct our future selves constantly through our ideals and what we see. Using juxtaposition of the child and their adult self being built up, I created an image to show the transition from childhood to adulthood. My intent was to show the reinvention of one’s future through the image of a child placing all the blocks in place to create who she wants to become.
Mia Hipolito
Molecular Dispersion
Oil
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Eileen Iacobucci
Grade 12
My piece “Molecular Dispersion” reflects on the question of whether we are truly ourselves, being made up of millions of pieces, all filled with empty space between and within the atoms that make up our bodies. With an obsessive patchwork of brush strokes that obscure the face, a surreal portrait is realized out of the orderly mess, emphasizing the idea of a whole made up of individual parts.
Zella Hogan
Aurea
Ceramics/Glass
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Nate Greenwood
Grade 12
Inspired by the Northern lights: A deity of the sky.
Olivia Lacka
Carnival Life
Ceramics/Glass
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Nate Greenwood
Grade 10
Delaney Ohara
Enter Tranquility
Acrylic, Watercolor
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Rob Golombek
Grade 10
My inspiration for this piece comes from the recent hurricanes and destruction in Florida, where themes of disintegration and reinvention feel especially relevant. I incorporated surrealism through clocks representing time and an obscure location adrift in the ocean. The work symbolizes Florida being gradually washed away, on the verge of disintegration. From this devastation, we must find the strength to reinvent and restore what was lost, reflected in the void of tranquility within the painting.
Karys Parker
Humanity
Ceramics/Glass
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Nate Greenwood
Grade 10
Sophia Simonenkova
Enslaved By Echoes
Digital Art
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Eileen Iacobucci
Grade 11
An obsession with sound weaves the mind into an eerie web, where whispers and echoes blur the line between life and death. Surrendering to the haunting symphony, she drifts deeper into the labyrinth of her creation—a realm where skulls float like memories and the hypnotic pull of endless reverberations consumes her. Each note becomes a thread, binding her to a void that offers both solace and eternal captivity.
Bo Thorvaldson
Infatuated
Drawing
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Rob Golombek
Grade 9
Samantha Abbott
Disintegration, Invention
Drawing
PCCA at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Amber Quimby
Grade 10
Lilian Butler
Disintegration
Painting
PCCA at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Amber Quimby
Grade 10
Solana Davis
Devouring Devotion
Digital Art
PCCA at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Brian McAllister
Grade 12
Aiden Evans
Insomnia
Digital Art
PCCA at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Ted LoCascio
Grade 11
This piece is about insomnia and not being able to sleep at night. The character in this piece has something important to do the next day so he needs to go to sleep but can’t. The creature is the representation of insomnia and is screaming so loud the character has to cover his ears. It only exists to him because it’s his mental problem, so the cat laying on the bed can’t see or hear the creature.
Sadie Foley
Lonely Obsessions
Acrylic
PCCA at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Ted LoCascio
Grade 11
This piece showcases not only the emptiness that comes with loneliness, but also how it can be all one thinks about when no other distractions are present, leading to those thoughts and feelings overlapping with each other.
Natalie Galan
Obsession
Photography
PCCA at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Amber Quimby
Grade 12
Xai Guzman
The Unbinding of Fool and Heart
Mixed Media
PCCA at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Brian McAllister
Grade 12
In my piece, the theme of obsession and reinvention play into each other. The jester is consumed by a deep love (obsession) and allows their heart to fall into their lovers’ hands, only for it to be swiftly ripped away with a golden hook. The jester is now without a heart, something new entirely without their obsession to define their identity (reinvention).
Rinesa Murati
Tainted Harvest
Digital Art
PCCA at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Brian McAllister
Grade 12
My artwork reflects disintegration through the tainted starfruit, symbolizing my fractured connection to my heritage. The obscured face represents my obsession with understanding my identity against cultural expectations. This combination illustrates the struggle and complexity of reconciling my roots with my personal journey of reinvention and self-acceptance.
David Parkinson
Symphony of Malaise
Acrylic, Colored Pencil
PCCA at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Steve Beverage
Grade 9
My art piece includes a dead musician draped over his instrument, obsessed with his craft. His soul coming out of the grand piano and being directed towards nirvana. The skeleton disintegrated over time, and reinvented into a new form. I want this piece to convey a message that there’s always a bright side to everything and that it’s never truly the end; just the beginning of a new chapter.
Molly Plattner
Dark Hallways of the Mind
Mixed Media, Graphite
PCCA at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Ted LoCascio
Grade 11
As a little girl I never liked the dark, and I still don’t. The dark fueled my imagination with terrors and they would appear any time it was dark. Hallways were the worst as I could always feel them staring at me, and I only had one place to run. Things that terrified me as a kid would morph and thrive in the dark of my imagination. I still don’t like the dark, but I’m not haunted by dark hallways anymore.
Finn Reddick
Fire Tiger
Digital Art
PCCA at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Ted LoCascio
Grade 11
This digital painting is exploring a personal interpretation of fierce emotions by using juxtaposition to place a tiger in rings of fire and clouds. The concept is visualizing an intense moment using an animal I consider to be a symbol of fiery personality to represent a constant loop of running with the most intense feelings you can experience throughout your day-to-day routine.
Verity Skeltion
Three of Swords
Charcoal, Graphite
PCCA at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Brian McAllister
Grade 12
In my art I love to use dynamic female bodies in dramatic poses. The three of swords tarot represents grief, loss, and heartbreak, a significant loss or disappointment in a relationship. In the past couple years of my life I have lost my mom, my sister, and other important people and it’s scarred me, i constantly feel like prey in life, a constant target. The tarot card reversed prophesied the exact opposite, healing and starting to move in a more positive outlook, I wanted this piece to be able to be viewed in every angle and still show meaning.
Aidan Stanton
The Obsession of Youth
Graphite
PCCA at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Amber Quimby
Grade 10
My piece depicts a younger man is being revealed by a partially unzipped zipper, with one side of his older self, slipping away revealing his younger self, while the other side remains intact covering the younger side. In this piece I used elements of value, texture, and space, along with principles of balance and proportion. The medium that I used was graphite. What inspired me was the recent studies of Greek art, where focused on sculpting the ideal youthful man. As well as personal experience with older folks always expressing the love for their younger days.
Sophia Almquist
Fallen
Digital Art
Hollins High School
Art Teacher: Erin John-Sullivan
Grade 11
The obsession with fragile beauty and its preservation fallows an easy evolution to constrictive love and spoiled innocence.
Maddie Brodie
Hands of Many
Digital Art
Hollins High School
Art Teacher: Hoolie Rowe
Grade 12
Hands of many is an artwork based on obsession. a powerful and unsettling artwork that explores the theme of obsession. In the piece, a woman is underneath a spotlight, her gaze upward, as a silent plead for help as she is vulnerability. Many hands surround her. These hands, both intrusive and desperate to grab onto her are used to represent the overwhelming force of external demands, desires, and expectations others have on women. The contrast between the woman’s stillness and the frantic energy of the hands show her oppression and entrapment, illustrating the consuming nature of obsession on some. They do not have control.
Sage “Max” Hill
Irregular Humanoid
Digital Art
Hollins High School
Art Teacher: Hoolie Rowe
Grade 12
The abnormal twisting and melting of shapes and colors that are familiar to the human mind, as everything falls apart before forming into something new once again. Things that were never given a second glance are distorted and unidentifiable.
Amber Johnson
He’s Ba-Ack
Graphite
Hollins High School
Art Teacher: Rachel Hardin
Grade 9
Reinvention and disintegration. The word “reinvention” sounds funny to me. It feels like a fake word, as though someone slapped a prefix onto it and called it English. It reminds me of the Spanish word ‘reanimar’—to revive. This is what inspired me to make this creature. He was revived for reasons unknown to him. But I know the reason! I have had this composition in my head for a long time but never had the confidence to attempt it. I’m glad that I got to raise the dead to replicate the work of one of my favorite painters, Dali.
Aila Nelson
Cultured State
Sculpture
Hollins High School
Art Teacher: Hoolie Rowe
Grade 10
Eveliana Noel
Obsessed
Digital Art
Hollins High School
Art Teacher: Hoolie Rowe
Grade 10
Leah Perez
Untitled
Acrylic
Hollins High School
Art Teacher: Hoolie Rowe
Grade 12
With this piece I wanted to represent corruption, in what way can be up to the viewer to decide. This man with the head of a ram seems sweet, made of cake, but if you look closer, you notice his true character creeping out from underneath the frosting. This could be anyone, anywhere, and you wouldn’t know at first glance. It’s grim, but honest.
Paxton Valenti
Last Hope
Digital Art
Hollins High School
Art Teacher: Erin John Sullivan
Grade 9
This digital art piece was created using Adobe Photoshop. It portrays the last hope of a dying region. Through chaos and destruction, there is always the hope to rebuild and move forward out of darkness.
Lilly Berretta
In the Deep
Collage, Colored Pencil
Lakewood High School
Art Teacher: Adam Turkel
Grade 10
I made this to represent having a whole bunch of emotions and them taking up so much of you that you can’t see clearly. I wanted this to look kind of “messy” and have a lot going on to show that, and show emotions are powerful and can cloud your judgement.
Kyla Groves
Red Tide (Detail #1)
Sculpture
Lakewood High School
Art Teacher: Adam Turkel
Grade 12
Cameron Heatly
Angelic Void
Digital Art
Lakewood High School
Art Teacher: Sandra Bourne
Grade 11
Space and astronomy fascinate me. My work frequently involves celestial objects, including planets, stars, and other cosmic bodies. In my work titled, Angelic Void, I challenged myself to create a self-portrait amongst my favorite theme to share my personal voice and presence within that world.
Isabel Mogello
Colorido
Mixed Media
Lakewood High School
Art Teacher: Adam Turkel
Grade 11
“Colorido” is a surreal work that emerged from a bunch of scattered ideas and a desire to do something new. It is a collage with textures, shapes, and colors, reflecting a slightly messy but always attractive artistic style. The hands holding seeds symbolize how everything starts small and can grow in unexpected ways, just like this piece. It does not seek perfection; rather, it seeks to evoke a smile, spark curiosity, or inspire the thought: “Hey, there is something special about this.”
Sophia Cabello
Sunfish Evolution
Acrylic, Sculpture
Largo High School
Art Teacher: Jayce Ganchou
Grade 11
My sculpture is based on the sunfish, an animal no one regularly thinks about. It is a type of fish that is flat, however, this one explores themes of evolution with repetition, as it has multiple faces growing around it due to mutation, and also recyclability as the fish in the work has a chain embedded in its fin to make it more voluminous but also to show the fish’s journey.
Justin Hawks
Do You Love Me?
Mixed Media
Largo High School
Art Teacher: Jayce Ganchou
Grade 12
Abigail Owens
Life and Death
Drawing
Largo High School
Art Teacher: Erik Nordstrom
Grade 11
The secrets of death are whispered into life.
Annette Rodriguez
One Underbite at a Time
Sculpture
Largo High School
Art Teacher: Jayce Ganchou
Grade 12
Sophia Alvarez-Apolinar
Upon On A Throne.
Sculpture
Northeast High School
Art Teacher: Scott Tilbury
Grade 10
Madison Schmitz
Perfection
Watercolor, Ink
Northeast High School
Art Teachers: Kevin Olis
Grade 12
Art is the mix of a vision, creativity, a little bit of passion, and a whole lot of motivation. Art is also incredibly difficult. This piece is an examination of my thoughts and feelings during my artistic process. Perfectionism is a stubborn thing; it is far from being perfect. I hold myself to a standard because of it, and it’s a standard that forever watches and judges my art. Perfectionism, however, is malleable. We can learn to live with it, change it, be satisfied, and celebrate our imaginations. Perfection is my inspiration. It is my obsession, my disintegration, my reinvention.
Brianna Waldeck
Rat
Sculpture
Northeast High School
Art Teacher: Scott Tilbury
Grade 12
Flavia Aparicio
Music Will Talk to You When the World Doesn’t
Mixed Media, Collage
Osceola Fundamental High School
Art Teacher: Laura Irmis
Grade 11
The world can be loud sometimes, but words spoken are nothing more than that. Music is not just a way to isolate yourself from the world, it is an way to think and feel the meaning behind words and sounds. Music is a reminder that there is someone who understands. When hope is lost and reality doesn’t feel real, music will always talk.
Rowan Duran
Lamb Chop
Acrylic
Osceola Fundamental High School
Art Teacher: Julianna Guccione
Grade 10
This piece is meant to convey the message of how people often look through living, breathing animals to focus only on the meat they provide. I aimed to contrast the cute and fluffy exterior of the lamb to its dark surroundings, emphasizing disintegration through its gory cut-outs. The aim of the painting to cause viewers recognize the harsh truths they decide to ignore when it comes to the meat industry.
Myla Grindley
Obsession of Youth
Mixed Media
Osceola Fundamental High School
Art Teacher: Juliana Guccione
Grade 10
We all dislike growing up, how it can make us look, how it affects our mind, and how things WERE. we all wish that we could live our youthful days again. However… this creepy old lady is a little too obsessed with the idea of youth. My piece is meant to represent times where we say, “I wish I was a little kid again, times were better then.” Overall, we should learn to enjoy living in the moment, and find the positives in our life now, not how it was.
Eva Aadil
Pieces of Identity
Colored Pencil
Palm Harbor University High School
Art Teacher: Wipoj Huse
Grade 11
Many people have an obsession with analyzing themselves, critiquing every plane of their face, and dissecting every facet of their personality. My piece was inspired by a false sense of self-awareness, putting together the pieces of our identity into a mosaic, a patchwork of how we want to see ourselves, but maybe not how we truly are.
Julia Chemisov
Obsession: The Birthplace of Madness
Colored Pencil, Graphite
Palm Harbor University High School
Art Teacher: Amanda Swisher
Grade 9
My artwork portrays the obsession that one obtains to change themselves, even as much as to cause themselves to spiral into madness. The distorted figure behind the mask depicts how the process of changing yourself destroys your identity as well as personal and unique mindset. The color in the background represents the happiness or anticipation of future changes, and the crippling color on the mask shows how quickly you can become unsatisfied with yourself.
Kristen Karagosain
Bird Cage
Digital Art
Palm Harbor University High School
Art Teacher: Wipoj Huse
Grade 12
This piece is meant to capture the harm of obsession. The bird clearly yearns for the freedom of the sky and thus fights against its confines. It does not care that that the cage is a fancy gold, gold means nothing to it. But its captor is so obsessed with the idea of the bird, uncaring for it or its desires, that they will crudely repair its decaying body, which only causes more pain.
Vy Tran
Obsession and the Disintegration of Time
Graphite
Palm Harbor University High School
Art Teacher: Amanda Swisher
Grade 11
My artwork, “Obsession and the Disintegration of Time” is an artwork about how social media is addictive and can steal away your time. The person in the artwork is standing before a clock trying to reverse time by moving the hands but she is being held back by her addiction. She represents teenagers everywhere who recognize that they spend too much time on social media but can’t stop. I wanted to portray a feeling of hopelessness in the artwork.
Kody Gardner
Mourning of the Copper Boy
Ink, Colored Pencil, Collage
Pinellas Park High School
Art Teacher: Caroline
Colby
Grade 10
Somewhere in a park a copper boy loves his two dogs. They are alive, so he is happy. Then one day through unknown means, they both go missing. The copper boy breaks down and sobs. All feels dead to him now, but it’s not. The flowers and clouds waltz in the sunset without care or sorrow. They waltz unknowing of the copper boy, as he sits on a bench and mourns.
Emily Fekollari
Slipping Through My Fingers
Acrylic, Colored Pencil
Seminole High School
Art Teacher: Courtney Timm
Grade 10
I was inspired by the themes of obsession and disintegration. Clinging on to something so hard until it’s being destroyed only because you’re obsessed with it. Many people hold onto things even when it’s getting harmful. I portrayed the idea of disintegration by physically ripping the canvas. This brought the painting to life and made it feel more realistic.
Lina Sophia Khalsi
Pain is Beauty
Colored Pencil
St. Petersburg Catholic High School
Art Teacher: Wendy Ewing
Grade 10
In creating this piece, I was inspired by the negative impact of society’s focus on visuals and outward appearance. It was difficult to limit the scope of my theme as I finally chose to encompass obsession, disintegration, and reinvention. Dali’s work is saturated with symbolism. I am drawn to the transformative elements of his work and tried to incorporate similar elements into my piece.
Stella Bartlett
The Beauty of Decomposition
Graphite
St. Petersburg High School
Art Teacher: Rachel Koral
Grade 10
My artwork “Beauty of Decomposition” is about finding the beauty in unconventional concepts. I use the idea of decaying animal skeletons to convey the idea of masking conventional beauty standards and replacing it with your personal view of beauty. My drawing also shows the idea of growth and change as you evolve as a person.
Magnolia Bates
Devoured by Time
Watercolor, Colored Pencil
St. Petersburg High School
Art Teacher: Rachel Koral
Grade 9
My artwork portrays the disintegration of a body, engaging with themes of decay and obsession. It draws inspiration from my childhood experience of obsessive fears surrounding death.
Sandy Burham
Mind Control
Acrylic, Colored Pencil
St. Petersburg High School
Art Teacher: Rachel Koral
Grade 10
During the recent election I noticed that many people had intensive obsession with whatever political entity they supported. It seemed people had a sort of unconditional love towards whomever they supported and seemed almost entranced. This entrancement was what inspired my piece, I tried to portray the attraction between the audience and the entity by having the cool tones of the people attracted to the warmth of the entity.
Eva Crettaz
Bound by Decay
Ball Point Pen
St. Petersburg High School
Art Teacher: Mackenzie McMurry
Grade 10
The obsessive desire to keep something contained and safe but at the same time to destroy and end it.
Uma Khare
Radiation Rot
Sculpture
St. Petersburg High School
Art Teacher: Mackenzie Mcmurry
Grade 10
This hand affected by radiation was fueled by my history learning. The phrase “history repeats itself” comes up when you’re learning about the past and so when I was brainstorming piece ideas for my topic- I decided that nuclear/radiation would be an excellent idea because of inspirations such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and Chernobyl. This hand is post-nuclear disaster with radiation effects riddling it. It is slowly withering because of its surroundings.
Mya Morgan
Jill in the Box
Drawing
St. Petersburg High School
Art Teacher: Rachel Koral
Grade 9
Alana Smith
Yielded By Thread and Flesh
Drawing
St. Petersburg High School
Art Teacher: Rachel Koral
Grade 12
Delilah Ladd
Cherry Eye
Colored Pencil
Tarpon Springs High School
Art Teacher: Jason Hubbard
Grade 10
The piece I’ve tediously worked on Represents how women see each other through a different lens by criticizing each other instead of working together and building each other up.
Sydney Young
Visions of the Inevitable
Colored Pencil, Ink, Marker, Watercolor
Tarpon Springs High School
Art Teacher: Jessica Mamorale
Grade 11
This piece is a multimedia watercolor piece. It focuses on things we cannot control the outcome of, and how by obsessing over them we trap ourselves in a gallery of what could have been. The person standing in the foreground represents obsession as it looks over small possibilities while what will happen has already presented itself. In the piece I used contrasting warm and cool colors to show how dread and obsession can pull itself to the forefront of the mind.