“The Surreal Self”
Initiated in 1985, this annual juried art exhibition presents work by Florida middle and high school students that explores ideas and visions inspired by the work of Salvador Dalí and the Surrealists. Students are asked to experiment with surrealist techniques such as visual transformation, dislocation and symbolism to create their works. This year’s theme is “The Surreal Self: Personal Symbols, Stories and Portraits.”
As an artist, Dalí had the ability to construct versions of himself that would be shared with others. In Dalí’s work, it is common to see personal symbols derived from his lived experiences, like his melting watches which represent how he perceived the passage of time. Dalí also referenced physical locations with personal meaning, particularly the rocky forms of the Catalan coastline where he grew up, in his creation of surreal landscapes.
The self-portraits Dalí created throughout his career explore different sides of his identity, portraying himself at various stages of life. In Self-Portrait (Figueres) (1921), teenage Dalí depicts an older version of himself shrouded in darkness, while in The Hallucinogenic Toreador (1969-70) he appears in his favorite blue sailor outfit from childhood, and in The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus (1958-59) he emphasizes his revitalized religious devotion later in life.
With this theme, students are challenged to represent themselves with the techniques used by Dalí to shape and present his own version of self. The Dalí Museum invites students to portray themselves through personal symbols, stories and portraits, founded in reality or the otherwise fluid methods of Salvador Dalí.
The Student Surrealist Art Exhibitions and receptions are funded by a generous gift from anonymous donors and in part from a program endowment fund established by the Craig and Jan Sher Philanthropic Fund, with further support from Museum Docent Steven Lawson and Nancy Hewitt. Additional support for this educational program comes from our Museum corporate partner, Bloomin’ Brands Inc.
Middle School
Alphabetical order by school
(Click images to enlarge)
Josefa Salgado
My Journey
Digital Collage
Academie Da Vinci
Art Teacher: Wendy Stanziano
Grade 7
I created this artwork by using my finger, with the iPad and using filters. I used unity in the filters to make the colors fit together. When I was making this artwork, I felt easy and calm, like I was taking out my feelings in art. I learned how to make digital surrealism art and how to use filters on Picsart. I would add a couple more photos, but all in all, I thought this artwork came out good.
Nicole Sallo
The Ballad of Nicole
Digital
Academie Da Vinci
Art Teacher: Wendy Stanziano
Grade 6
Bryce Winters
The Surrealist Of Surrealism Self
Marker
Academie Da Vinci
Art Teacher: Wendy Stanziano
Grade 8
I created this artwork by using my unconscious mind and then transferred it onto the page. I used markers, shading and a lot of outlining to create this artwork. The surrealism piece I did last year inspired the skeleton. I worked hard on my technique to draw different body parts, such as the heart in the middle.
Addison Duck
The Shark-Opus Attack!
Watercolor
Clearwater Fund Middle School
Art Teacher: Karen Santangelo
Grade 7
When creating my art piece, I was inspired by the lemon shark, my favorite animal. I wanted a twist, so I made the shark scary and gave it octopus legs. The shark-opus resembles me, while the background is a school. Pom poms on the ground represent cheer, my sport. The animal reflects my favorite creature, and the ocean wave painting shows my love for the ocean.
Emery Hartley
Soccer Escape
Watercolor
Clearwater Fundamental Middle School
Art Teacher: Karen Santangelo
Grade 7
I was inspired by the constant fear of failure when I’m playing soccer. By making my nightmares come true, having the soccer ball eat me alive, hinting that I am fearful during games of having to manage with the soccer. I love playing, and I’ve been playing for a while, but sometimes it feels like it’s eating me alive. It shows metamorphosis and transformation as the soccer ball is coming alive with human eyes and a long tongue trying to snatch me.
Camila Riquetti
Blurred Melody
Acrylic, Watercolor
Clearwater Fundamental Middle School
Art Teacher: Karen Santangelo
Grade 8
This was inspired by my grandma’s cottage in Denmark. She lives on a remote cliff over the ocean. The jellyfish were inspired by the non-stinging Moon Jellyfish that are always there in the summer. The sheet music was inspired by my passion for piano. I responded to the theme, The Surreal-Self, by showing a peaceful setting combined with out of place subjects. The jellyfish & sheet music both show juxtaposition by levitation because they are contrasting subjects that are floating through air.
Paisley Frakes
Hypersensitivity
Acrylic, Colored Pencil, Graphite
Country Day World School
Art Teacher: Sandra Franklin
Grade 7
My drawing was inspired by how intensely I feel about the world. How sensitivity can make me feel fragile, like a porcelain doll. Responding to the exhibit’s theme and Dalí’s surreal interpretations of the world, I used cracks across my self portrait to show how little things can leave lasting marks. This connects to my “surreal self,” where emotions impact me physically and mentally. I used exaggeration and symbolic distortion, key Surrealist techniques, to reveal vulnerability as delicate.
Janeth Ortiz-Tepetate
Clue
Drawing
Dunedin High Schoolland Middle School
Art Teacher: Sydney Truby
Grade 8
Elizabeth Rodriguez
He’s Hungry, Feed Him
Painting
Dunedin High Schoolland Middle School
Art Teacher: Sydney Truby
Grade 8
Josephine Boman
Departure Of Nature’s Soul
Colored Pencil
Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School
Art Teacher: Daniel Kervin
Grade 7
This colored pencil piece depicts a girl who is part of nature. The background is a high-tech, futuristic city with no wildlife. It represents that by harming nature, we are harming ourselves. This could be us in the future. The girl’s face is partially a ladybug pattern, the lips are leaves, the neck is bark, the hair is feathers, the eye is a butterfly’s eyespot and the ear is a mushroom called a turkey wing.
Quinn Bonanno-Crawley
The Wilderness
Digital
James B. Sanderlin K-8
Art Teacher: Gabbi Roland
Grade 8
This artwork was inspired by the feeling of anxiety. The animal-like figures symbolize people, and how when you’re in a spiral you can’t connect them. The dark forest background represents how it’s hard to see things clearly in such a panicked state. Anxiety can be a haunting feeling that can really shake you. It can feel like you are out of place, like you are in the woods, surrounded by things that feel at a distance, or not quite right. That’s what this artwork represents.
Gabriella Barron
The Unheard Current
Sculpture
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Sara Black
Grade 8
Josephine Boyd
Devouring Reflection
Sculpture
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Jenna Hasbrouck
Grade 8
Rilke Canete
Miso Myself
Digital Art
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Sara Black
Grade 8
I wanted to represent my Asian heritage and my love of ramen in a fun and creative way.
Madison Huck
A Brain of Creativity
Acrylic, Colored Pencil, Collage
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Kathy Talbot
Grade 6
It’s surrealism because it not likely that stuff would get out of your brain, and your face would fall off. This represents me because I have lots of creative ideas and I like a lot of different things, if you asked me a question about “what’s your favorite-“ and includes anything in art I would say “I don’t have one” because I like mostly everything.
Arabella Lane
Beauty of Life
Photography
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Kathy Talbot
Grade 7
I created this piece to resemble that life is amazing in ways that you cant explain, and how you have things around you that are good and bad. The scissors mean that I can cut the bad people out and keep the good close to me. The weeds mean the bad people around me, and the flowers are the good people. The flowers are across my face like my gratitude to my loved ones over flowing and spilling.
Ravyn Liburd
The Daring Slokia
Digital
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Jenna Hasbrouck
Grade 8
I created this artwork, because I wanted to try something new with my art style and this was the outcome of that experiment. Me making this was something i dislike initially, but once finishing it I became quite proud of myself.
Taitum Newalu
The Golden Wound
Sculpture
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Sara Black
Grade 8
My art works is about overconsumption not in food but in objects and products and how that affects the world and the people in it.
Bronwyn Parke
Friendship, Digested
Photography, Sculpture
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Sara Black
Grade 8
This work shows how my friends make me who I am. I chose to turn them into cookies to represent my love for baking and cooking, and giving them treats I make for them to enjoy. They are very important to me, and they are the reason for my personality and interests.
Marisol Tobienne
Unraveling
Mixed Media, Colored Pencil, Marker, Watercolor, Yarn, Cardboard
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Jenna Hasbrouck
Grade 8
As I’ve grown up my fascination with cats has stayed consistent. From wearing cat ears as a little girl to painting them they’ve been featured in my life. Since I have been the one dressing up as a cat, I decided to switch it up and put the cat styling itself like me, with its eye makeup and colorful tights. My cat rendition of me is seen living it up in a world also made to represent my true self, vibrant and over the top.
Mia Vongsyprasom
Tethered Ascension
Drawing
John Hopkins Middle School
Art Teacher: Sara Black
Grade 8
Masha Mokrushyn
Arachnid Confession
Drawing
Joseph L. Carwise Middle School
Art Teacher: Lori Manning
Grade 8
My artwork shows my warped face with spiders crawling all over. My warped face signifies I try to be an observant person from all angles and soak up all of the senses around me. The spiders are my little messengers that tell me things I miss out on. I picked arachnids since they have a lot of eyes that help me see different perspectives. I hope you enjoyed learning about my piece, thank you!
Leila Ochocki-Bargman
Portrait
Drawing
Joseph L. Carwise Middle School
Art Teacher: David Ramos
Grade 8
Sofia Zero
Warped By Time
Graphite
Joseph L. Carwise Middle School
Art Teacher: Lori Manning
Grade 8
The purpose of my artwork was to show how we can manipulate time and our own fate. I was inspired by the Surrealist Salvador Dalí because he managed to incorporate his own personal experiences and perceptions of life into his work. In my artwork, however, the clock acts as a foundation, pulling everything together, while the jack-in-the-box represents the choices we make that lead to our eventual demise. The cracks in the clock also demonstrate the limitations of time.
Khadija Mohamed
Dream Land: A Mouthful of Dreams
Colored Pencil, Watercolor
Largo Middle School
Art Teacher: Anthony Powell
Grade 8
I used inspiration from Salvador Dalí and Leonora Carrington. I wanted my art to be dreamlike and surreal, everything has a meaning. The mouth with a road represents your words and creativity travel and make their own path. The mountains and field are to distract from everything else. The melting clock is representing how time is “slipping away” and the moon blowing bubbles adds a feeling of childhood and innocence. The fishes show that even if you feel you don’t belong, keep going.
Evangeline Baldwin
Anxiety
Watercolor, Graphite
Madeira Beach Fundamental K-8
Art Teacher: Kurt Schuster
Grade 8
My artwork visualizes the mental fragmentation of school stress. By replacing the head with an impossible architectural design, it shows how school can twist the mind into chaotic corridors, with no clear exit. The distorted figures and dripping liquid represent a mental overload, while the eye suggests constant pain. Together, this illustrates how school can feel overwhelming and mentally consuming.
Austin Carbonneau
Swimming Through Non-Existence
Acrylic
Madeira Beach Fundamental K-8
Art Teacher: Kurt Schuster
Grade 8
My artwork shows the path to overcoming difficult and sometimes traumatic memories. The mirrors represent flashbacks and moments that resurface along the way. The sorrowful figure and the ocean of clocks symbolize heavy-hearted feelings and the long process of healing. The butterflies are guardians, representing the people who support you, while the flowers symbolize love. Reaching the end of the path reflects the moment when you can finally move forward and overcome the setbacks you have faced.
Raleigh Miller
A Peacock Egregious
Watercolor
Madeira Beach Fundamental K-8
Art Teacher: Kurt Schuster
Grade 8
My work represents duality in my personality, displaying differences in my personality and traits depending on my environment and state of mind. I took inspiration from Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe portraits to represent a singular figure being represented in familiar but adapting forms. I also used symbols of my key interests and personality to show myself in all lights, both good and bad, displaying an unfiltered picture of the surreal me in response to the theme.
Sophia Norman
Like Clockwork
Mixed Media, Watercolor, Ink, Marker, Colored Pencil, Acrylic
Madeira Beach Fundamental K-8
Art Teacher: Kurt Schuster
Grade 8
When I was younger, I felt the need to take on responsibility and care for my three younger siblings, I felt like I had to grow up too fast and didn’t enjoy it. I still want to act childish, but things have changed; it feels uncomfortable and awkward to act on those impulses now. Change is a part of life, and to shun it is to stay trapped, so, maybe, sooner was better than later.
Zuri Campbell
The Cost Of Survival
Sculpture
Mangrove Bay Middle School
Art Teacher: Karen Haraminac
Grade 7
Monarch butterflies have pretty short lives. Some live only a matter of weeks, others up to 9 months. The monarch butterflies go through many changes in their short lives. I have gone through a lot of changes in my life. The covering over the eye represents changes in my life I want to block out. The wide-open eye represents a view to a better future. If the butterfly can change, then I can change my fortune too.
Naya Tran
Freedom
Colored Pencil, Ink
Meadowlawn Middle School
Art Teacher: Edith Sorensen
Grade 6
My drawing is a surrealism about the burning need to break free of the small world around you and to explore.
George Cherry
Surreal Creature from Beyond
Mixed Media, Colored Pencil, Ink, Marker, Watercolor
Osceola Middle School
Art Teacher: Dwayne Shepherd
Grade 8
The Chiropodyla is an other worldly creature, sharing close relatives of a bat, crocodile, and cat. Its skin is red in color, while have blue paw-like hands, and a pink exposed exoskeleton. Other key features of the Chiropodyla include the star shaped berries in its neck fluff, which it uses to lure its prey, as well as the vines that grow throughout its body, usually a sign of poor maintenance. This creature has a strange fascination with amphibians, frogs in particular.
Sunnie Randolph
Social Media Sucking the Life and Enjoyment Out of Me!
Colored Pencil, Watercolor
Osceola Middle School
Art Teacher: Dwayne Shepherd
Grade 8
I wake up, I get on my phone. I get home from school, I’m on my phone. I go to sleep after a long day of looking into my phone. This tiny little light box that I can’t look away from, distracts me from doing the activities that I actually like doing.
Jasmine Buckmaster
Usagi With a Pearl Earring
Painting
Palm Harbor Middle School
Art Teacher: Bob Judalena
Grade 8
Valentina De Oliveira Jaques
Eye Shine
Digital Art
Palm Harbor Middle School
Art Teacher: Brenna Mitchell
Grade 7
Liliya Elefteriou
Life Of A Horror Girl
Drawing
Pinellas Academy of Math and Science
Art Teacher: Ariana Myers
Grade 8
Liliana Haas
Locked Awareness
Drawing
Pinellas Park Middle School
Art Teacher: Sandra Robinette
Grade 7
Addison Smith
Between Faces
Digital
Pinellas Park Middle School
Art Teacher: Leah Powell
Grade 8
This artwork is about identity. I drew a character with dramatic hands and bold colors to show strong emotions. The wall of masks behind them represents all the personalities we can try on as we grow up. I wanted the picture to feel exciting, colorful, and a little mysterious.
Sophie Tran
The Vivid Mindset of a Teenage Girl
Mixed Media, Colored Pencil, Marker, Collage
Plato Academy Tarpon Springs
Art Teacher: Dana Fidler
Grade 8
When you look inside the colorful mind of this young teenager, what stands out first? Maybe it’s her rainbow-colored face, like in A Bad Case of Stripes. Or the sun in the corner paired with the rain, or the Polaroid showing a blue butterfly. What about the smaller details—the furious cat, or The Dalí Museum bracelet from her adventures? Who knows? All I know is that you just took a glimpse into The Vivid Mindset of a Teenage Girl.
Kennedy Nguyen
Night
Mixed Media
Safety Harbor Middle School
Art Teacher: Alejandro Roman
Grade 7
Eythan Vargas-Thompson
Eternity
Ink, Marker
Safety Harbor Middle School
Art Teacher: Hilman Chan
Grade 8
The art that I have created is inspired by a statue called “Madonna.” I had the inspiration to make this piece because I always liked the way this statue looked, and I had a dream one night of a blood red moon over a sea of black. As I was walking on the water for hours in my dream, I fell in the water, and then I woke up.
Sophia Richards
Self-Portrait
Collage
Seminole Middle School
Art Teacher: Brooke Sherrill
Grade 6
I find inspiration from classical Greek colors and composition. The medium of collage helps me to blend traditional and contemporary art together for balance and a surreal look. My self portrait reflects my life’s experiences.
Jack Magoulis
Dragon
Digital Art
Tarpon Springs Middle School
Art Teacher: Gabrielle Medina
Grade 8
Justice McMillian
Just Scream
Oil
Tarpon Springs Middle School
Art Teacher: Heather Shell
Grade 7
I made Just Scream because I love horror films. I had this idea from analog horror where a bunch of horror films and scary creatures try to scare you and I wanted to create a creature that would instantly be scary. I made him screaming because it’s supposed to look like he is screaming right at you. I wanted to draw him a surrealistic style to showcase surrealism.
Henry Leporati
The Circle of Life
Mixed Media, Marker
Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School
Art Teacher: Madison Bumbalough
Grade 7
My love for nature inspired this piece of surrealism.
Brielle Giering
If You Love Me, You’ll Do It
Colored Pencil
Tyrone Middle School
Art Teacher: Karissa James
Grade 8
This art piece represents a past relationship experience, showing that if someone finds out how much you like them, they will take that power and abuse it until they are satisfied.
High School
Alphabetical order by school
Amara Dreyer
The Clarity of Scopophobia’s Vision
Ink, Drawing
Boca Ciega High School
Art Teacher: Nina Caruso
Grade 12
Everyday I feel like I have someone watching my every move. No matter where I go, even in the privacy and safety in my own room, everything could have cameras, everything could have eyes. This piece captures that very anxiety, I invite you to look into the eyes of the fearful, but not the unaware.
Natalia Vargas
Interferer Of Transience
Drawing
Boca Ciega High School
Art Teacher: Nina Caruso
Grade 11
Ariel Woodard
Mind’s Eye
Digital Mixed Media
Boca Ciega High School
Art Teacher: Taylor Crosland
Grade 12
This piece explores what it feels like to be overwhelmed by perception: seeing too much, feeling too deeply. The extra eyes represent the weight of constant awareness. Through intense color and distortion, I tried to show how identity can blur when you’re always watching and being watched.
Emily Avila
Unfolding Who I Am
Photography, Digital
Clearwater High School
Art Teacher: Clayton Burkey
Grade 11
“Unfolding Who I Am” reflects my quiet journey to unravel my true self identity and unfolds all the layers I show on the outside. While the blurred face shows my true self still forming. Each layer represents a story i have carried whether out of practice, habit, or fear. As I let these layers breathe I began to see parts of my self emerging that I once kept hidden. This unfolding is slow, delicate and deeply personal.
Rilee Doyle
We Depend on You
Drawing
Clearwater High School
Art Teacher: Megan Hoffman
Grade 9
Trinity Mckee
Heart of the City
Colored Pencil
Clearwater High School
Art Teacher: Clayton Burkey
Grade 11
“The Heart of the City” mainly uses the surrealist elements of juxtaposition and collage to show what feels like home to me. I used parts of the city in the collage like the subway, riverboat and the Pittsburgh Skyline to represent the place I feel most connected to. The heart in the center ties everything together as the source of my connection to the city.
Micaelyn Cummings
Royalty
Painting
Countryside High School
Art Teacher: Allyson Leja
Grade 9
Anna Niemczewski
Eyes Up Here
Mixed Media
Countryside High
Art Teacher: Allyson Leja
Grade 11
Jackson Walls
Driven Crazy
Painting
Countryside High School
Art Teacher: Allyson Leja
Grade 11
Amber Johnson
Growing An Orchard In The Dark
Digital Art
Hollins High School
Art Teacher: Hoolie Rowe
Grade 10
Lay down in the earth and feel the sprout start to grow. Cover yourself with dirt and the branches begin to rise. Roll over in your grave from the twigs poking and prodding you. Fall asleep and let the bushels engulf your head. Cushion between the roots, reach over and grab your pillow. Entertain the thoughts the leaves whisper and pull your blanket further over your head. Turn the lights off.
Ysabella Ortiz
Domestic Violence
Digital
Hollins High School
Art Teacher: Michelle Newman
Grade 10
Yarianna Paz
Daddy O’
Acrylic, Ceramics, Terracotta Clay
Hollins High School
Art Teacher: Wendy Blair
Grade 10
I like making art that is creepy surreal and unusually unreal it’s what I enjoy doing the most.
Leona Tran
Untitled
Digital
Hollins High School
Art Teacher: Hoolie Rowe
Grade 11
I see myself as a soul—an abstract spark of neon and zing—instead of my flesh. I often feel out of touch with my body, metaphorically ripped away from its dull stretches of muscle and cartilage. Through the pain, we still dance: my soul leads a waltz, its head in the clouds, dragging along the body like a lightbulb dragging its wires, an artist dragging their tools. I am a soul in motion, finally seeing light.
Christian Weaver
A Boy and His Toys
Mixed Media
Hollins High School
Art Teacher: Rachel Hardin
Grade 11
The “Surreal Self” theme inspired me to consider how I have evolved as a person over time. In this work I included characters that I found comforting during my childhood, as we grow and time passes our interests change, which is why I included the camara for photography and the airplane for travel with old newspaper clippings of places I hope to visit one day. The overall composition is a visual representation of the pieces of my experience over time that make me who I can today.
Marcellino Dauod
What’s My Car Doing?
Photography
Dunedin High School
Art Teacher: Anne Marie Shaughnessy
Grade 10
I took this photo of my car and decided to make it into this art work where the car is floating with no one inside or it like it’s flying
Sophia Valentino
Reflections of a Lady
Acrylic, Colored Pencil
Dunedin High School
Art Teacher: Sal Gulino
Grade 12
This piece explores the boundaries between identity and reality. The ladybug, a symbol of beauty and luck, longingly peers into her reflection to convince herself she is human. This illustrates how insecurities can distort our inner identities, ultimately revealing the internal tension between who we are and who we aspire to be. No matter how long the ladybug gazes into her ideal perception, she will never truly be human.
Nyla Walker
My Formula for Growth
Mixed Media
Dunedin High School
Art Teacher: Sal Gulino
Grade 11
Alanna Caldwell
Nature Deity
Mixed Media, Ceramics, Sculpture
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Nate Greenwood
Grade 10
I was inspired to create a tree out of all the nature deities. I feel most connected with trees. Trees symbolize growth, strength and wisdom, which are all things I value. I also included my favorite animal, birds. They represent freedom, which is the opposite of trees that have a strong foundation. I wanted to capture how all living things rely on each other despite their differences.
Victoria Devries
Woman of Erumia
Colored Pencil, Watercolor
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Eileen Iacobucci
Grade 12
I have always been intrigued by jellyfish ever since I was a child, their flowing care-free existence is something I would like to strive for in my life. I capture the movement of the jellyfish and the fluidity of the woman’s hair underwater to show dislocation of a woman belonging to the ocean. Additionally, utilizing metamorphosis by keeping a consistent color scheme between the woman’s hair and the jellyfish.
Marissa Graham
Identity
Colored Pencil
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Rob Golombek
Grade 11
The Internet is a wonderful thing. A place to share new ideas, new thoughts, and new creations. However, as more and more people define what is “good” and what is “right,” there is less room for uniqueness. I created this piece with the thought of conformity in mind. Conformity, at times, does have a place. However, it results in the death of who you are as a unique person. The woman in this picture has no name. That woman with a name died a long time ago. I wonder if she knows.
Aurea Norris
Insincere Symbiosis
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Sculpture
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Nate Greenwood
Grade 12
Through the natural behaviors of black caymans and the native butterflies of the Amazon region, I attempted to represent a relationship of codependence through themes of false comfort, implied danger, and emotional exploitation.
Dziyana Rolik
Coexistence With Fear
Sculpture
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Nate Greenwood
Grade 12
Human strength in confronting and overcoming fear inspired this sculpture. I wanted to capture the moment when you look at something that once triggered you – something that used to destroy your life – and you realize it has no power over you anymore. The sculpture expresses the calm, beautiful strength that arises when you face a fear you once overcame.
Kseniya Rolik
Still But Alive
Sculpture
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Nate Greenwood
Grade 12
A man who has seemingly been through too much to fall again into the alluring unknown. This could be the end of the soul’s fluctuations. After all, the old crust will remain forever. To those around him, he appears calm and wise, while somewhere inside, a new cycle of change is rhythmically emerging. Inevitably, he sees everything differently again.
Alana Samson
Weightless
Digital
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Eileen Iacobucci
Grade 12
Music is a way I view myself. As I play, I feel a weight lifted off me, almost like I’m soaring. Inspired by the sky during a band rehearsal, I used transformation and metamorphosis to convey the feeling of weightlessness. To connect to Dalí’s work, I tried a looser style similar to automatism to show movement and expression of my piece.
Sofiia Simonenkova
Art Eats The Artist
Digital
East Lake High School
Art Teacher: Eileen Iacobucci
Grade 12
“Art Eats the Artist” tells the story of a creator trapped in a room that feeds on every mark he makes. He draws with what remains of himself, trying to hold onto the last piece of his identity as grinning faces watch from the dark. The hallway stretches endlessly, echoing his need to keep creating even when it hurts. This work portrays the moment when art becomes both a refuge and a devourer.
Amarion Anderson
Soul Eclipse
Ink
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Amber Quimby
Grade 10
This artwork was inspired by Old Testament fear and fear of eternal damnation. This theme is a surreal self-portrait of our (black) community. It is a reflection of ourselves. As our flesh and our souls struggle in a never-ending struggle so does the sin and benevolence of this world perpetually conflict. This is a type of double imagery which is inspired by Dalís skills in visual language.
Emery Aviles
Feeding the Greedy
Drawing
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Ted LoCascio
Grade 11
Lily Butler
I Will Return
Digital
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Ted LoCascio
Grade 11
Imaging a future hundreds of years from now, where technology has become advanced enough to revive the dead by biological regeneration and digital consciousness. I imagine waking up in a society I never help build, and given a second chance. It’s not about living forever, it’s about who you will be, what you will look like, and how you will adjust to the society around you.
Aria-Bella Calapardo
Evolution Mind Pollution
Digital
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Amber Quimby
Grade 10
What inspired me the most for this piece is my love for monkeys and my experience at The Dalí Museum. Going to the Dalí as my first field trip this year helped me further understand what surrealism actually looks like, so that experience really helped the idea I had in mind come to reality. A huge part of this piece is my floating head transforming into the cartoon monkey, since the theme was supposed to be a self-portrait, I try to tie in things that I feel people can immediately connect to me.
Maya Carrier
Pinned
Colored Pencil, Gouache
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Brian McAllister
Grade 9
I’ve always been fascinated by bugs. I’ve made a hobby of collecting, rehydrating, and pinning the ones I find, and being able to spend so much time looking at and posing insects up close lets you really appreciate every intricate detail. I think of it as a form of respect, of honoring their unseen beauty. I hope that one day, that’ll happen to me too. That I too can be studied, that I too can be appreciated.
Aiden Evans
My Spirit Guide Dreams About Me
Mixed Media, Colored Pencil, Ink, Marker, Watercolor, Acrylic
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Steve Beverage
Grade 12
My interpretation of the theme was to dissect my brain. But, instead of it being anatomical, it shows the things that make me, me. The X-ray is presented by my spirit guide character. The idea behind this piece is growing up but staying true to yourself. Turning 18 came with new responsibilities and having to “act my age”. But, despite my age, I am still the same me with the same childish interests. Showing that growing up doesn’t change you.
Sydney Gauthier
Reflections of Sydney’s and Sandy’s
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Digital
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Steve Beverage
Grade 12
My work explores the closeness of unexpected friendships. Ones that I may not have realized I needed before, but now I cannot live without. This piece incorporates an important person in my life that brings out the little kid in me, one I can easily be myself around and grow with as each of us begin different chapters in our lives. The bond is not just about the memories we have shared, or will share, but the recognizing a part of ourselves in the other or what we may have needed all along.
Zakiya McKinnon
A Rainy Walk with One Another
Digital
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Brian McAllister
Grade 9
When making this art piece, I thought back to my Word + Image piece I made back in August, which featured me and a humanoid chicken sub embracing each other and sharing thoughts about one another, symbolizing that we understood each other and we shared the same thoughts. I used juxtaposition in my art piece by replacing people with umbrellas with chicken subs that used their wrappings as umbrellas to shield themselves from the downpour.
Jamie Mosqueda
Emerge
Mixed Media, Ink, Sculpture, Watercolor, Celuclay
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Ted LoCascio
Grade 9
Emerge is meant to emulate a connection to the organic world and geometric figures. I think about how nature is so different from human discovery, like mathematics and how it’s such an integral part of creating artworks. I was inspired by the decay of sculptures and how the ocean changes the color of objects the further deep they go. Emerge is being left behind, under the water, melding with the ocean.
Merriwether Niemeyer Smith
Aries at Dawn
Painting
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Brian McAllister
Grade 9
Sandra Peters
The Surreal Emotion
Ceramics/Glass
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Amber Quimby
Grade 12
Carmella Peterson
Indecisiveness
Mixed Media, Colored Pencil, Watercolor, Acrylic, Gouache
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Ted LoCascio
Grade 11
I represented my own Indecisiveness through the use of a chimera-or in other words myself in a combination of different animals. I used the chimera to show my bundle of ideas and not being able to present myself in a ‘final form.’ I made this piece to show how in a world of possibilities and my own interests I am unable to decide on the right form of expression for myself.
Molly Plattner
Serpents of Time
Mixed Media, Colored Pencil, Digital
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Steve Beverage
Grade 12
This piece is not a portrait of myself but instead a portrait of my younger sister, yet I see myself reflected in her. As she grows, I wish I could protect her from some of the harsh realities of the world as well as the mistakes I’ve made. Although I know that to let her grow she will have to do things on her own and make her own mistakes. Even if that might be it doesn’t mean I won’t be there to help, and give advice when needed as everyone needs someone they can rely on.
Finn Reddick
I See Myself in You
Mixed Media, Acrylic
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Steve Beverage
Grade 12
I find the concept of time to be surreal, and so this self portrait painting highlights the beauty of that surreality. The figures shown, me and my father, are 18 years older than they used to be. The time has passed and the relationship has grown and changed. We both have our personalities and our differences but despite that, we’re still those same people in the original photo this portrait was inspired by.
Syd Roisum
Neverending Cycle of Violence
Digital Art
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Ted LoCascio
Grade 11
This piece is about war and how the causes and effects of individual battles often mirror each other. It also shows the pointlessness of war as the conflicts will happen over and over again with no resolution.
Imogen Shuler
Blind Eye
Colored Pencil, Watercolor
Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School
Art Teacher: Brian McAllister
Grade 9
The idea was to show a drawing of myself in the eye of one of my best friends, who’s known me most of my life. The sand dripping from my face shows how time passes and ties in with the nature around it. I used double imagery, with her face acting as both a mountain range and a portrait. Dalí inspired the bright colors and the strange, story-like feeling of the piece.
Kemaud Johnson
Time To Travel
Mixed Media, Watercolor, Colored Pencil, Digital
Lakewood High School
Art Teacher: Sandra Bourne
Grade 11
Young Ethan Sinclair finds himself surrounded by the very thing absent from his time. Just a local artist by day and athlete by night, although within a matter of seconds as he walks down the street in his well-tailored suit, the city, which he’s lived in his entire life, began to change dramatically. Everything but him, observing this strange anomaly, Ethan didn’t panic. Still, he stayed calm, only to realize he began to disappear and stare back into the abyss that was his very eyes.
Olivia Walker
Memorabilia
Collage
Lakewood High School
Art Teacher: Adam Turkel
Grade 11
I use collage and antique memorabilia to explore memory and identity. Reassembling forgotten objects into new, surreal compositions allows me to honor their histories while creating fresh narratives that invite viewers to reflect on nostalgia, time, and the stories hidden in everyday artifacts.
KC Cox
One Day
Mixed Media, Sculpture
Largo High School
Art Teacher: Jayce Ganchou
Grade 12
My piece explores the longing to become something so intensely that it consumes you and reshapes who you are. It reflects how desire can blur into transformation, sometimes leading to growth. This work captures the way change, even when uncomfortable, can ultimately redefine us.
Anthony Nieves
Flooded Home
Acrylic
Largo High School
Art Teacher: Gavin Jones
Grade 11
I created this because I feel like if I had a pet duck I’d fill my room with water for him because I love ducks, I’d also fill my room with grass to so he can eat bugs from it. I hope you enjoy my artwork.
Ariana Rossodivita
Am I Not a Child
Crayon
Largo High School
Art Teacher: Erik Nordstrom
Grade 11
This artwork is meant to resemble the growth of a person. I used crayons to depict innocence, mixed with swirls to express movement in the art. The star on the forehead represents enlightenment of the mind/soul, growing into a being of knowledge/understanding. The text in the artwork is meant to appear as a callout, a threat to authority figures, a creature seen as a child is commonly also seen as inferior and this portrays a child forcing themselves to grow up so that they are seen as equal.
Nancy Engle
Exposed
Colored Pencil, Marker
Northeast High School
Art Teacher: Jenny Trewin
Grade 12
With countries across the world jumpling on the “online safety” train, the internet is blatantly becoming a dystopian battle for constant government survailence. To bypass age restrictions, users are required to provide government ID, facial scans or a driver’s liscense–now by going online, we risk being utterly exposed. From our social patterns to our personal financial and voting data, the bare bones of our being are visible.
Gavin Gardner
Skullscape
Photography, Sculpture
Northeast High School
Art Teacher: Scott Tilbury
Grade 12
When making my sculpture the biggest inspiration I had was fungi. I wanted to question mortality, mine and the idea in general, but more importantly what happens after we are gone. Nature will always take control in the end, because after we die our bodies decompose and help benefit the organisms around us. Even in death we all contribute to the world, no matter who you were or how you lived your life.
Zack Miller
The Teller
Marker, Colored Pencil
Northeast High School
Art Teacher: Jenny Trewin
Grade 12
Inspiration was heavily drawn from folklore/metaphors; the Goose and the Golden egg, Wolf in sheep’s clothing, the Fox and the Raven, the Lion and the Mouse and the Hare and Tortoise. Ideas of your future being read and explained through common myths/legends. Time is simply a concept. Owls are typically associated with time and wisdom.
Adrianis Vazquez
We’re Not Aliens
Mixed Media
Northeast High School
Art Teacher: Jenny Trewin
Grade 11
Veronica Heflin
Open Wide
Digital
Osceola Fundamental High School
Art Teacher: Julianna Guccione
Grade 11
Sofia Perez
The Spitting Bowling Ball
Collage, Photography
Osceola Fundamental High School
Art Teacher: Robin Walton
Grade 9
This photo collage displays a bowling ball posed as a persons face while scrolling on their phone. It also shows it sitting down in a house with trees seen indoors. While sitting, the bowling ball seems to be in the middle of a sneeze. This abnormal collage exemplifies surrealism and my love for bowling. I hope you enjoy this image as much as I do.
Eva Aadil
Self-Examination
Colored Pencil
Palm Harbor University High School
Art Teacher: Wipoj Huse
Grade 10
“Self-Examination” explores the relationship between academic performance and our personal identity. Our past failures and abandoned drafts are represented through the scattered paper balls throughout the composition, while the distorted pencils symbolize how a drive for academic achievement may warp our self-image. This piece ultimately challenges the notion that grades and productivity are the only metrics of personal growth that truly matter.
Desana Dashi
Beyond Form
Drawing
Palm Harbor University High School
Art Teacher: Wipoj Huse
Grade 12
In this piece, I explored the idea of pushing past limits by showing a metallic version of myself being pulled into a black hole. The black hole represents forces that break down boundaries and rigid structures, like the chessboard rules being sucked away. The birds with my eyes symbolize new vision and transformation, suggesting that moving beyond limits opens different perspectives of the self.
Sophia Leung
Chain Collapse
Acrylic, Colored Pencil
Palm Harbor University High School
Art Teacher: Wipoj Huse
Grade 10
My piece visualizes how small actions create expanding consequences, much like falling dominoes. I merge a face with architectural domino forms and use a radial burst to emphasize the spreading impact of collapse. The clock-shaped ear reflects my constant awareness of time and the pressure it places on me. The figure struggling to escape the dominoes mirrors the weight I carry. Through surreal distortion, I explore how identity, pressure, and cause-and-effect shape my inner world.
Summer Matthias
Looking at My Pet Humans Fish-eyed
Photography, Digital
Palm Harbor University High School
Art Teacher: Amanda Swisher
Grade 10
What inspired my artwork were the various elements that are found in the works of Salvador Dalí, and how, although random, still coincide with each other in a balanced harmony. I specifically chose to focus on a fishbowl element, except instead of the fish being behind the glass, it was other people and me instead. The overall message of the artwork is that everyone lives in their own world, and it may look surreal from an outside view.
Vy Tran
The Emotional Corpus
Acrylic
Palm Harbor University High School
Art Teacher: Wipoj Huse
Grade 12
The animated movie Inside Out inspired my art, which looks at how complicated human emotions and perceptions can be. The movie shows emotions as characters in the mind that change how we see the world. In the same way, I showed emotions by using a group of eyes, each with its own color and expression, to show different ways of seeing and feeling. The theme is based on the idea that our feelings change based on how we see the world.
Olivia Webb
Koi-Nnibalism
Digital Art
Palm Harbor University High School
Art Teacher: Amanda Swisher
Grade 11
Elise Young
Touch & Taste
Mixed Media
Palm Harbor University High School
Art Teacher: David Smith
Grade 11
This piece shows the gross reality of the daily habit of biting your nails, it represents the ugly truth of how it can take over your life and affect you significantly and daily. My inspiration for this piece was to represent the most extreme image of this daily habit in a way of showing how it can consume your life physically.
Lillian Welch
Freeing My Mind
Colored Pencil
Pinellas High Innovation
Art Teacher: Nancy Flannery
Grade 11
Have you ever had a moment when your thoughts race and your voice echoes through your mind? My piece is the visual representation of that. The birds race around her like thoughts, with one bird inside observing it all, wanting to be set free.
Leslie Garcia-Gaspar
My Two Sides
Sculpture
Pinellas Park High School
Art Teacher: Aaron Osborn
Grade 11
Kody Gardner
Dog and The Beggarticks
Colored Pencil
Pinellas Park High School
Art Teacher: Tiffani Fulda
Grade 11
Today is a special one. Today, a rebirth has commenced; the Beggarticks are delighted! Though there is a problem. No one has paid mind to one who has lied unpitied, suffering from the consequences. Could it be that the Beggarticks are paying too much mind in setting up the party? Could it be fear? Could it be that the Dog is too untrustworthy? Or could it be that the Dog will never think to bark? No matter to dwell on it.
Connor Metts
A Mouthpiece in The Sky
Marker, Colored Pencil, Acrylic, Paint
Pinellas Park High School
Art Teacher: Tiffani Fulda
Grade 9
This artwork is meant to represent how difficult it is for us to grasp large concepts. This man is holding onto the bottom of the hot air balloon for his life. He thinks he understands the unusualness of his situation, but in reality there is a bigger threat right behind him. One that he is completely oblivious to. Sometimes we think we have the ability to grasp vast concepts, but we truly have no idea what we are getting into.
Emily Fekollari
Scratch My Back
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Colored Pencil
Seminole High School
Art Teacher: Courtney Timm
Grade 11
I made this using many layers of paint and pencils to make the skin look lifelike and distressed. It represents downplaying struggles and waiting for other people to find out about it on their own. I was focused on keeping the contrast high between the cuts, the drips, and the shadows.
Adriana Perez
Tides Of Memories
Colored Pencil
Seminole High School
Art Teacher: Blaine Barden
Grade 12
“Tides of Memories” shows how memories come and go like waves. The girl’s hair turns into the ocean to represent how her past is always connected to her. The bubbles floating in the air are pieces of her memories. This piece explores the way memory shapes identity, gently pulling us backward and forward like the tide.
Paige Taylor
GettingLostInThePages
Photography
Seminole High School
Art Teacher: Blaine Barden
Grade 10
I made this photo to represent how much I like reading and how I get lost in reading a good book. Reading has always been my outlet out of my world and into the fantasies I’ve come to love. If you ask any of my good friends, they will tell you how much I love to rant about the book I’m currently reading.
Camila Bravo Carmona
Souls Of Venezuela
Charcoal, Colored Pencil
St. Petersburg High School
Art Teacher: Rachel Koral
Grade 11
In this piece, I focused on depicting the political situation in my home country: Venezuela. My artwork reflects what Venezuelans suffer daily when they participate in protests, which often begin peacefully but end with lives lost at the hands of the government.
Maya Chia
Interconnected
Colored Pencil
St. Petersburg High School
Art Teacher: Rachel Koral
Grade 9
In this piece I wanted to represent how despite my parents and aunts describing me as “rebellious” I am still very much connected to my culture. I try to uphold myself to high standards that I know they’d approve of and share pieces of Cameroon with everyone I meet; however nothing can stop me from expressing who I truly am, as seen with my big gold hoops and nose ring.
Emily Fernandez
My Kanji
Colored Pencil, Ink
St. Petersburg High School
Art Teacher: Rachel Koral
Grade 9
Kanji is one of the three scripts used in the Japanese language. It is a writing system borrowed from China in which characters symbolize ideas rather than sounds. I used kanji to construct a portrait of myself, with each character’s meaning corresponding to the body part it illustrates. Japanese language and culture are major sources of fascination and inspiration to me, which is why I chose to represent myself in this way.
Josie Harker
Rebirth
Ceramics
St. Petersburg High School
Art Teacher: Mackenzie McMurry
Grade 12
I portrayed myself with fungi emerging from my body to show growth and to symbolize rebirth. Sometimes we have to go through hard times in our lives and I myself have experienced difficult situations. It is through these trying experiences that I have been strengthened and reborn.
Jaya Rodriguez
What Blooms Beneath
Ceramics
St. Petersburg High School
Art Teacher: Mackenzie McMurry
Grade 11
These sculptures, combined and individually, tell a story of growth, originality, and the beauty of finding yourself. It’s difficult to know who you are in times of struggle but like nature, we must persist. It can feel confusing eventually discovering your spark and integrating the “real” you into day-to-day life, but in the end when you’re truly happy it becomes impossible to conceal what blooms beneath.
Reese Rogers
Rainbow Rat
Mixed Media
St. Petersburg High School
Art Teacher: Mackenzie McMurry
Grade 12
This self-portrait shows me with my two pet rats, which I have included to symbolize the dual sides of my personality. The right side of the portrait shows my public persona while the left side shows me “in my own head” which is a very colorful place! I combined different color schemes and drawing styles (realism vs cartoon) to show the duality behind my personality.
Sydney Wilson
Fractured Focus
Photography, Cyanotype
St. Petersburg High School
Art Teacher: Rachel Koral
Grade 10
In this piece I explored the idea of overstimulation through layer masking and cyanotypes. By layer masking multiple hands touching the model’s hair and face I demonstrated the overwhelming pressures of outside forces on an individual. I used the hands to represent the constant demands and expectations on specifically young adults. The work encourages the viewers to understand the ongoing mental maze that teens work through daily.
Isabella DeArmitt
Catastrophe
Paint Marker
Tarpon Springs High School
Art Teacher: Jason Hubbard
Grade 10
I took a drawing I have done in the past that I liked sketching. I took some inspiration from graffiti art and cartoon style art.
Lucy Sims
Wings of Destiny
Mixed Media, Watercolor, Ink
Tarpon Springs High School
Art Teacher: Jessica Marmorale
Grade 10
For my piece, I drew inspiration from my experience with the contrast of human culture and concepts of divinity. The hands that spring from behind the figure represent the human essence, our tireless purist for knowledge, our calloused palms and our eyes which perceive the world we inhabit. The vibrant colors on the right side create a visual balance with the crisp white plumage of the left. Gold and white accents bring pure, otherworldly themes as contrast to human cultures.
Sydney Young
Flesh And Memory
Mixed Media, Ink, Watercolor
Tarpon Springs High School
Art Teacher: Jessica Marmorale
Grade 12
My piece juxtaposes memory and amnesia using symbols from Norse mythology, reflecting how my heritage has impacted my perception of life, death and memory. The woman fades away and while thought stays perched on her staff, memory flies in the distance gone… waiting for her in the life after death.