student surrealist art exhibit online: 2021 hillsborough county
“delusions, desires and delicacies”
Initiated in 1992, this annual juried art exhibit presents work by middle and high school students whom we invite to explore ideas and visions similar to those explored by Salvador Dalí and the surrealists. The 2021 theme is “Delusions, Desires and Delicacies,” a theme that encourages students to explore these dream-like ideas inspired by our subconscious wants and fears.
Sigmund Freud, the father of Psychoanalysis, was one of the first scientists to propose that dreams were not just the residue from sleep. He argued that dreams function like a language, and can be interpreted scientifically in order to understand a person’s fears, desires, and motivations. His dream studies greatly influenced the surrealists, who looked to their dreams for inspiration. An avid follower of Freud, Dalí describer his paintings as “hand-painted dream photographs.”
“Delusions, Desires and Delicacies” encourages students to create dream-like visions and look to their dreams for inspiration. The definitions suggest possible approaches to the competition: a delusion is “a belief that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality…” Desire is “a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen.”
A delicacy is “something delightful or pleasing, especially a choice food considered with regard to its rarity, costliness.” Each definition suggests a possible approach for students to create their own “hand-painted dream photograph.”
Thank you to our sponsor:
middle school
Alphabetical order by school
(Click images to enlarge)
Alexis Georgiev
Crave
Bell Creek Academy
Teacher: Ryan McNally
Grade 8
I wanted to use animal representation to convey my message. To do that, I drew a girl with goat qualities because goats are considered sinful animals and represent many things including desire. I also drew a cake, which represents a delicacy. The goat girl wants to eat the cake but cannot because her moth is sewn shut. No matter how strong the desire to eat is, she cannot. She is delusional for knowing she cannot eat, but continues to believe and attempt.
Darlyn Jarquin
Corn Dog
Benito Middle School
Teacher: Cheyanne Causby
Grade 8
Annika Karr
A Peaceful Afternoon
Coleman Middle School
Teacher: Tobey Sonenberg
Grade 7
With the global pandemic, everyone is dreaming for a moment of peace, which is why I wanted to make a relaxing painting. I like the idea of desires, which is my theme, and I am inspired by nature. I used watercolor and colored pencils to create this and learned about value. I used dislocation and juxtaposition with the frog in a scene where he shouldn’t be but also looks like he should be there.
Libby Lewis
The American Dream
Coleman Middle School
Teacher: Tobey Sonenberg
Grade 8
A cheeseburger is a uniquely American delicacy. This theme made me think about the problematic side of this all-American meal. From the surrealist point of view, I included symbols to show my view of the American dream in that form. I used transformation, juxtaposition and displacement to help me consider how a surrealist can find meaning in everyday objects. The eyeball helps the viewer question other delicacies marketed to them.
Kaylin Guerrero
Pasta City 2032
Davidsen Middle School
Teacher: Vanessa Smith
Grade 7
Sophia Whitmore
Got Grapes?
Davidsen Middle School
Teacher: Vanessa Smith
Grade 8
Ekaterina Baranova
Sweet Disappointment
Farnell Middle School
Teacher: Melanie Schlicter
Grade 8
The taste of candy is very enjoyable and sweet on the tooth, but is your desire for it good for you? Your desires aren’t always good for you; the candy in my artwork may be a hazard to your health. The girl in the cup is crying because she can’t actually finish any of those delicacies; it is not real – only a dream. The surreal techniques that I used are first metamorphosis, for the girl is sitting in a cup that is bigger than her. The second is symbolism with the girl crying. And the third is the dreamlike setting. Nothing appears in the artwork that could actually appear in a natural setting. My technique was to draw a forest but fill it with sweets.
Alizee Grazier
Vices of the World
Farnell Middle School
Teacher: Melanie Schlicter
Grade 8
I named this piece, Vices of the World, as the lady in the middle depicts us all as we are being consumed by out delusions and desires. The grey scale colors represent how lifeless she has become; the lipstick represents her pain in the pursuit of beauty while eyeshadow represents what she is willing to sacrifice and the hands pulling away represent out delusions and desires slowly killing us. The piece to me represents the reality of our evil desires and how long we will pursue them. I created this work with acrylic paints, prisma color pencils and a sharpie fine liner. The levitation, symbolism and dislocation make this piece surreal. I want the viewer to see how dangerous our delusions and desires can be.
Sophia Gunnin
Nothing is Real
Farnell Middle School
Teacher: Melanie Schlicter
Grade 8
When we see an object, it is not the object itself that we see, it’s the reflection of light bouncing off of it. Dreams are fictional stories we see in our sleep. They aren’t real. Everything we see in our dreams comes from our brain trying to create a picture based on the information it absorbs. So if you live a fun life, you will like the picture you see better.
Adrianna Miller
Natures Beauty
Farnell Middle School
Teacher: Melanie Schlicter
Grade 7
Nature inspired me to make this piece. Nature can hold many delusions, desires and delicacies. Nature is unpredictable. The flowers in this piece are supposed to show desires, delusions and delicacies. Humans kill an animal and call it ‘Human Nature.’ They kill for game and cover it up. Flowers are beautiful things, but they cannot always cover up the mistake you made.
Samantha “Jeremy” Naval
Lost Dystopia
Farnell Middle School
Teacher: Melanie Schlicter
Grade 8
“Lost Dystopia” represents our society, religion and human flaws to show how beautiful others can make it out to be. This piece is made to connect the viewer to something familiar then hook them in with its deeper meanings. For example, the floating man shows features of a doll to show his humanity being stripped away by temptation and the influences around him.
Laila Nieves
Love Provides
Liberty Middle School
Teacher: Lesley Wheatley
Grade 8
The Dalí exhibit’s theme – “Delusions, Desires and Delicacies” – gave me the idea of using food to represent desire. Something else that inspired me was social media. I am always hearing on social media that some people are in toxic relationships and others are in amazing relationships. Both of them deal with love so that made me think of a heart. The heart is the center of my piece. The type of food I chose was from my childhood because at school I always hear about the five main food groups (vegetables, fruit, protein, grain and dairy). Therefore, I drew three types of food from each food group. … One strategy I used was dislocation with the heart. …what I really want the viewer to take away from my piece: there is right and wrong love.
Jocelyn Salomon
Time is Priceless
Liberty Middle School
Teacher: Lesley Wheatley
Grade 8
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” The inspiration for this work: “the greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated. …animals are imprisoned for their beauty, and diversity is set aside. The exhibit’s theme allowed me to think about the delicacies life provides, and that we mustn’t waste time for “time isn’t the main thing, it’s the only thing.”
Gunasree Venkataraman
The Latibule
Liberty Middle School
Teacher: Lesley Wheatley
Grade 8
For my artwork, I was really inspired by surrealist art, especially Dalí’s work. I’ve also been reading and watching many fantasy-based books and movies, and they have also inspired me. “Delusions, Desires and Delicacies” gave me the idea to create a fantasy world have someone trying to reach it. The delusion is that the person is imagining something that seems bizarre, which would be the world, but they are stuck somewhere else. The only way to get there is through the glasses, which the person desires. A world representing delicacies both rare and fantastic.
Amber Yuan
Beyond the Screen
Liberty Middle School
Teacher: Lesley Wheatley
Grade 7
Delusions, Desires and Delicacies can apply to many things. Instead of using food for this theme, it made me think more about the extent people can go for happiness and how most people are glued to their phone. I was inspired by the dislocation in Dalí’s artwork and the wonderful plants that can turn into strange things in the artwork of Wonderland that I saw at Disney as a child. I chose to draw someone staring at a black and white monitor with so much life around them…The painting represents a delusion with the plants slowly coming to life out of the screen and transforming…into phones. … In the end, I hope people will come to realize how detached you can be from reality and how things are not always what they seem to be. It is important to remember your real desire and goal is beyond the screen.
Idelisse Rivera
Levi
Martinez Middle School
Teacher: Kassandra Cochran
Grade 8
This artwork holds a lot of meaning, but I want to keep the reasons behind it private. The desire is to make all the bad things end. The hands represent people that hurt you, judge you and affect you in many ways. I want to spread awareness, no matter who you are, to see the struggles people go through. Trauma can affect everyone. I want to show how the world can feels so different to each individual.
Tejasri Tummala
Hope Clouds Observation
Martinez Middle School
Teacher: Kassandra Cochran
Grade 8
This piece is about a young man who is trapped in this cage of misery. He is trying to let go of his delusions and fears, hoping he could get out. As the title says, “Hope Clouds Observation.” I chose this quote as the title because the man is hoping to get out, not noticing the cage around him.
Lily Watts
The Drip of Decay
Martinez Middle School
Teacher: Kassandra Cochran
Grade 8
For my Dalí project, I was inspired by people who may be experiencing delusions involving global warming, or thoughts on how the world was made. I showed the sun forming the earth’s continents by its dripping candle wax. The art also represents a change. The sun representing what our beautiful earth used to be, and the flames and drip of the candle wax represents what our beautiful earth used to be, and the flame and drips of the candle wax represents the burning and decay of our world.
Eva John
Mother Cow Waters her Calf in the Clouds
Orange Grove Middle Magnet School of the Arts
Teacher: Hilda R. Muinos
Grade 7
For my surrealist art piece I really enjoyed using the Medibang digital app. Medibang allowed me to use pieces of images to create wacky pieces of art. In this project, I was really inspired by Cyriak Harris’ work and the cows in my neighborhood. Cows may seem boring and smelly but there is so much more to them! The juxtaposition of the mother cow on a cloud watering her baby calf is from my dreams. It brings out many emotions.
Camila Villasenor
Spider Gloss
Pizzo K-8 School
Teacher: Salenna Nguyen
Grade 7
My surreal work combines a lipstick tube and a spider. The inspiration for my illustration was about how weirdly common it is to have inse4cts used to dye cosmetics such as lipstick. The exhibit’s theme influenced me mostly by human desire to enhance our beauty using cosmetics and the delusion of seeing actual bugs in those products they are used to create dyes for.
Lianet Medina Cruz
A Spotlight with Air Freshener Can Cause Blood in the Water
Progress Village Middle Magnet School
Teacher: William Talenti
Grade 8
When trying to wrap my head around the concept of a delusion, I thought that “not everything is as it seems.” This artwork started as different ideas developed in a few separate thumbnail sketches, but when put together I found a connection between them. In essence, my artwork symbolizes the thought that ignorance is beautiful to those who are ignorant. The ignorant are deluded that the weaknesses of their community simply aren’t there. To them, it doesn’t exist. To them, ignorance is the answer.
Adysen Sheffield
The World’s Chaos Above the Ground
Progress Village Middle Magnet School
Teacher: William Talenti
Grade 7
Illusions are a type of delusion. In general, so too is the idea of creativity. For me, when trying to draw illusions, I think more about random things in the world mixed together – one with people’s dreams. To me, dreams are illusions skewed with seemingly real emotions. One of my favorite things to do is dream. It can give a person a whole different view on their surroundings.
Gabrielle Echenique
The Unthinkable
Rampello K-8 Magnet School
Teacher: Elizabeth Van Allen
Grade 8
The Unthinkable is a representation of the world in its current state. I was heavily influenced by the news because it can get super chaotic and negative. I implemented the idea of metamorphosis with vines and hands and used symbolism and dream-like settings with the shark. Everything I created means something, including the colors. For example, the shark represents negativity and the hands and angel show positivity. I included the vines to show positive energy being taken over by negativity, which I feel has been happening recently in today’s society.
Teahni Bryant
A Dislocated Desert
Roland Park Magnet School
Teacher: Amanda Funk
Grade 8
My inspiration was what I wanted to do in life and what interested me the most. The colors were also inspired by my last Dalí Museum project because I used the same dark colors (black) and wanted to change it up. For the Surrealist technique, I used mostly dislocation and transformation such as the balloon and clock and the cat human eye with an octopus arm.
Jay’Lynn Cunningham
Inner Self
Roland Park Magnet School
Teacher: Amanda Funk
Grade 8
The method that I used the most is dislocation and pen/ink. What I have learned from this piece is to not think too much when you’re creating and to let your mind be free. This piece is surreal because of all the randomness going on in it. I used dislocation to encourage the viewer to find a different angle.
Ciana DiFiori
The Pull of a Broken Reality
Roland Park Magnet School
Teacher: Amanda Funk
Grade 8
My inspiration for this project was delusions and desires. I had a record of my thoughts during a terrible depression spiral and I took words from those and brought them to life in this piece. There were statements of wanting, like wanting to disappear and of delusion, like being held in place by guilt. I used metamorphosis and juxtaposition.
Geanny Garcia
Watchful Past
Roland Park Magnet School
Teacher: Amanda Funk
Grade 7
I was inspired by the fact that whenever people have a desire, things or people don’t allow them to reach that desire, and so it slowly disappears. I used dislocation, metamorphosis, levitation and disproportion in this piece. I replaced the stars as eyes and made everything as if it is disappearing or breaking. I want the viewer to know that when you struggle for something, don’t give up so easily, even if it may seem delusional. If you think you can accomplish it, don’t let anyone hold you back.
Yarley Orozco-Jaimes
Wonders of the Abyss
Tomlin Middle School
Teacher: Dillon O’Donnell
Grade 8
My imagination, the small fragments of my happiness and the fact that I like trees all inspire me to create this work. The exhibit influenced me to create something unreal, non-existent, perhaps from a different universe. I connect to this artwork because it is a part of my mind. I consider this environment a part of my happy place.
Erison Vail-Carreto
Secure
Tomlin Middle School
Teacher: Dillon O’Donnell
Grade 8
My inspiration correlates to the theme of insecurity. The character feels that the attention of the others is focused on her. I can relate to the character’s feelings. The eyes and the vines are the character’s mental state taking form. There is one “pretty” eye that indicates that she is beautiful, but it is difficult for her to accept and become conscious of her own beauty.
Chrysanthee Barlow
Delicate Nature
Walker Middle Magnet School
Teacher: Trista Johnson
Grade 7
Ilsy Hernandez
In Mind
Walker Middle Magnet School
Teacher: Trista Johnson
Grade 8
high school
Alphabetical order by school
Luke Birmingham
Dead Love
Alonso High School
Teacher: Shane Heath
Grade 12
“Deep Love” portrays a person who has a loss of love, and has gone without feeling, thinking he has found it through delusions of a red woman. As the person reaches for their desire of the woman, the skin melts, becomes dead. The piece was created with surrealist concepts, using color pencils and markers.
Zuhé Costa
Chimera Camellia
Alonso High School
Teacher: Shane Heath
Grade 10
The delicacy of the camellia inspired me to create this place, sometimes something so beautiful and the desire of having it in our hands can lead us to create an idealistic image of the what it actually is. The delusion that comes with this wish can make us loose our minds and drag us down with it affecting the essence of the thing.
Elizabeth Dhanaraj
Desperation
Alonso High School
Teacher: Shane Heath
Grade 12
Upon reading the theme, my mind automatically made a connection to the emotions of love and lust, which often go hand-in-hand and delude the people that experience them. These feelings are fiery, easy to mistake. I wanted to emphasize how one feeling could end up dominated by the other, forcing its way into your life and usually catching you off guard. The feelings of a healthy love are a rarity, a delicacy for many people.
Maria Papolos
Mothernature
Alonso High School
Teacher: Samir Bernardez
Grade 12
This composition was inspired by the connection between humans and nature, our desire to be close to nature, our delusion in thinking that nature yearns to be close to us, and the delicacy of the love that occasionally exists between animals and humans. We yearn to be close to nature, but overstep our boundary because of the disillusion that they need our touch when at many times they do not.
Chloe Sweet
Either/Or
Alonso High School
Teacher: Shane Heath
Grade 11
The figure’s heart of gold desires both family, represented by the apples, and love, symbolized by the cherry blossom – but they can’t have both. If they choose family, they will never find true happiness through love, hence the question “Is it better to speak or die?” shown on the figure’s leg.
Phuoc Tran
What’s for Dinner?
A.P. Leto High School
Teacher: Jackie Lucas
Grade 12
The idea for this piece came to me one evening when I woke up from a long nap. I was craving food as I was eating and I thought, “what if there are souls in food? What if they have feelings?” I do not really expect people to understand this piece of art, I expect people to get a creepy vibe from it and it fits the theme of delusions and delicacies quite well!
Suray Treto
It Starts With a Dream
A.P. Leto High School
Teacher: Jackie Lucas
Grade 11
I took the theme “Delusions, Desires and Delicacies” as a green light to create something abstract, and to capture the wild scenarios and delusions of dreams on canvas. When I think of dreams, I think of accomplishing the impossible. The leopard gecko dreamt of performing a ballet at a famous theater, and he worked hard to achieve it.
Julianne-Marie Pascual
Honey-Pie
Bell Creek Academy
Teacher: Charles Cawley
Grade 11
Music was a big inspiration for me in the making of this surrealist piece – coming across a song with a fun sound and title is what helped me develop a concept where I could put pollinators and pastry dough together! The concept came to me as a play on words – Honey Pie. Dislocation is what makes this composition a surrealist one. It displaces several things (the honeycombs, bees, and bee larvae) into the pie.
Zackary Crosby
Late Night Snack
Bloomingdale High School
Teacher: Diana Speedy
Grade 12
This piece is done for the Delusions, Desires and Delicacies is meant to convey a haunting feeling as the eye is drawn past all the cake to the man and the mouth at the head of the table. I used this theme to express my own personal experiences with eating disorders. Specifically binge eating disorder. I wanted to simulate the feeling of eating more even after you’re full. I used small details, like red and yellow wallpaper to add to the morning behind the piece because red and yellow are used by corporations to induce hunger (McDonalds). By using this meaning behind my painting I effectively applied both delusions, desires and delicacies to this piece.
Lila Philage
Tormented Blindness
Bloomingdale High School
Teacher: Diana Speedy
Grade 9
My piece shows the views of a depressed teenage boy. The mirror represents his view of the world and himself, whereas outside the mirror is reality. In the upper right corner, there is an urn on a shelf with flowers beside it. This is supposed to represent the death of a loved one do to COVID-19 following the delicacy of honoring passed family member by bringing flowers or offering to their resting place.
Emily Seltzer
Crustacean Infestation
Bloomingdale High School
Teacher: Diana Speedy
Grade 11
This piece is inspired by a dream I had many years ago. It has always resonated with me because of how horrifying it was at the time but how ridiculous it is now. I loved making my dreams a reality. This piece represents learning to overcome my fears and that sometimes, more than not, you need to gain perspective and laugh about what once terrified you.
Serene Abulhaija
It’s Just a Cigarette
Brooks Debartolo Collegiate High School
Teacher: Madeilynann Mitchell
Grade 10
I aimed to demonstrate the detriments of substance abuse in my piece. An addict under the influence of substances like drugs or alcohol finds them to be a delicacy, constantly craving more while denying their addiction. The symbols of the girl’s dreams are overshadowed by transparent images of substances, representing the delusion that they’ll aid her in accomplishing her goals, rather than the reality.
Gahyun Kim
Contradictions in the Delightful
Brooks Debartolo Collegiate High School
Teacher: Madeilynann Mitchell
Grade 10
My piece was inspired by the complexities and strangeness of surrealist art. I approached the “delicacy” portion of the prompt in a way that was straightforward, but not obvious. I included, and morphed, different delicacies, such as pig snouts (sprouting from a pig skull) and chicken feet, while adding in elements that give the piece an unsettling feeling. I interpret this piece as representing the misconceptions about and avoidance of peculiar foods from around the world, in contrast with the high demand for them in their home country. However, this work doesn’t have a definite meaning, and is mostly up for personal interpretation.
Callie Merrill
Window into Adventures
Brooks Debartolo Collegiate High School
Teacher: Madeilynann Mitchell
Grade 10
Taylor Pogorilich
Unlike you, I am God
Brooks Debartolo Collegiate High School
Teacher: Madeilynann Mitchell
Grade 12
My piece is about the common desire to be more than average, to be special. In extreme cases, this can lead to delusions of grandeur. In the age of social media, individuals sometimes see their goals become reality, but there is almost always a path of hurt behind them because they used others for their own gain. These individuals cannot see anything aside from their delusions about being larger than life, and will gorge themselves on the resources of others to feed their self-serving beliefs. We all desire to surpass “the norm,” but it’s important that we do not abuse those around us, treating everything as a delicacy to be gained.
Salem Edinger
Longing and Desire
Cambridge Christian School
Teacher: Amy Dayton
Grade 11
I was inspired to portray a dream I had. In it I feel this intense longing for a new beginning and for spiritual growth. In the dream I am falling as I reach toward this light that seems to be an opening filled with butterflies. The butterflies symbolize rebirth and their color represents desire. Purple represents space and longing.
Anna Babbitt
Rotted Dream
Durant High School
Teacher: Aaron Bowers
Grade 11
What inspired me to make this piece was the theme “Delusions, desires and delicacies” and a dream I had about eating a fly-infested peach. In my piece, I wanted to portray how people can be blinded by their desires and delude themselves into thinking something is right for them when it could harm them instead.
Kylie Burt
Untitled
Durant High School
Teacher: Aaron Bowers
Grade 10
When creating this piece, I aimed to give a surreal feel to it by taking ideas from day dreams and items from my everyday life. This was all incorporated in the piece to give it a dream like state. This work has hidden meanings behind the images, taking ordinary objects or living things and using them to express different ideas, tapping into the subconscious mind.
Brooks Fetterhoff
The Reality of a Rhino
Durant High School
Teacher: Aaron Bowers
Grade 11
I was inspired to create this piece because of my love for all of the endangered animals in Africa. I connected to this artwork because I have always strongly opposed the horrors of poaching, it was very important that I convey the tragedy of what these animals face at the hand of human greed. I replaced the natural defense of a rhino with the weapons humans use to massacre these animals
Taylor Migliorini
Untitled
Durant High School
Teacher: Emily Godheim
Grade 11
I began my piece with a simple drawing of a wine glass because that it the first thing that came to mind when I was presented with the prompt: “desires.” From there, I began adding elements somewhat randomly as I went along, making sure that each item was contradictory to the one before. Once finished, I discovered the meaning. The piece represents the disputes that occur within oneself and the factors that “pour” into their conscious.
Laura Quintero
Untitled
Durant High School
Teacher: Emily Godheim
Grade 12
When thinking about how I can incorporate surrealism into my piece, I also wanted it to have some kind of meaning which then I came up with the idea of representing the thought of how we isolate ourselves from reality, and how we only stick to our comfort zone. I decided to draw people trapped in bubbles and some of them look like they’re trying to escape while some just look comfortable in them.
Madison Williams
Degenerating Utopia
Durant High School
Teacher: Aaron Bowers
Grade 11
What inspired me was the way our society displays its self. This work is important to me because it shows that our society is fragile and will one day fall if nothing is done. It was made with color pencils and markers. I’ve learned that nothing last forever. I turned society into a dragon but weakened it by making it cake. This work is a reflection of what society has done to it’s self.
Hanna Clark
Trust
Freedom High School
Teacher: D.J. Fintel
Grade 11
The past few years of my life have inspired me to create this piece. Certain events leading up to now have influenced me in the aspect that I automatically view trust as a delusion, and am very wary of trusting anyone in my life. In this piece, I try to convey the polarity between the two subjects with using the emblematic traits of the sun and the moon.
Enrique Dujali
Fish Out of Water
Freedom High School
Teacher: D.J. Fintel
Grade 11
Fish out of Water, is a self-portrait that conveys the ideas od unfamiliarity and overall oddity. It also illustrates the struggles of being a teenager, not fitting in, and the challenge of finding one’s place in a crowd full of people, or in this case, a sea full of fish.
Anna Castro
Beyond the Reader’s Eye
H.B. Plant High School
Teacher: Brian Taylor
Grade 10
Sophia Colman
My Darling Darkness
H.B. Plant High School
Teacher: Brian Taylor
Grade 11
Jade DeRosa
The Belthorp Mansion
H.B. Plant High School
Teacher: Josephine Johnson
Grade 9
Delusion: We are still living and stuck on a past that society has moved on from.
Desire: Wanting something that can easily lead to addiction and death.
Delicacies: Old vintage items that don’t seem affected by times presence.
I want the viewer to feel uncomfortable without knowing what is going on, to fear the unknown. I want the viewer to feel at ease, but at the same time lost and unsure.
Elliott Francolla
Watch the Time
H.B. Plant High School
Teacher: Brian Taylor
Grade 10
My piece was inspired by the summer of 2020 – every single day was virtually the same. I was at home at the same desk, surrounded by the same four walls, all the time. Excessive monotony created a sense of being stuck in time, and I found that time became an arbitrary concept. The exhibit’s theme made me think about my own delusions – my sense of timelessness when I lack stimulation. The theme inspired a dreamy, untethered feeling when one is awake and alone at night. I drew on surrealist techniques including the distortion of objects, symbolism, and dreamlike scenery. This artwork was cathartic for me.
Hannah Hansted
Flourish of Decomposition
H.B. Plant High School
Teacher: Brian Taylor
Grade 11
Ashley Harrop
Arachnophilia
H.B. Plant High School
Teacher: Brian Taylor
Grade 11
Ava Prator
A Midnight Snack
H.B. Plant High School
Teacher: William Renninger
Grade 9
In my art, I wanted to capture the feeling of a dream in a euphoric way with my use of colors and contrast. I wanted to contrast the bright colors with a negative emotion on the face to leave the viewer wondering, just as one would wonder about the dreams they have. As a reference relating to Surrealism I included the clock on the cake, similar to clocks on paintings by Dali.
Anna Thomas
Delicious Desires
H.B. Plant High School
Teacher: Josephine Johnson
Grade 9
Ivy Burton-Akright
It’s This Ferret’s World and We’re Just Living in It
Hillsborough High School
Teacher: Caitlin Clay
Grade 11
My work was inspired by the mix of nature and human society that can be seen in many surrealist artworks. This work is important to me because it is a narrative work that tells a fantastical story, and while everyone might have their own interpretation, as the artist I created an adventurous story for the character. I want the viewer to pay attention to the colors within the piece and how they might apply to emotions.
Amelie McLeod
Self Control
Hillsborough High School
Teacher: Caitlin Clay
Grade 11
This piece used Freudian symbolism like the tree and the box to portray sexual abuse and how the victim is trapped and there’s no key to unlock the feelings. The girl is covered by chain mail to show protection to a certain degree, but it is filled with holes that leave her exposed. The desire to be free encapsulates her, represented by her long hair that goes wherever and is a symbol for vastness. The piece is titled Self-Control, relating to the theme of desire, because of the desire to feel normal constantly. To feel as if everything is under your control.
Hayley Cessna
Sugar Palace
Howard W. Blake High School
Teacher: Molly Dressel
Grade 11
“I chose to represent desire as the desire for love, because love is one of the most desired things on earth, and I chose to portray love with the lovers dancing. The candies of course, portray delicacies and cakes present in the scene- sweets have always been considered a luxury. Delusion is in the proportions of the impossibly sized sweets and porcelain plates; you never see these things this large.”
Emma Harwood
Crocks
Howard W. Blake High School
Teacher: Molly Dressel
Grade 12
The theme “Delusion, Desires and Delicacies” influenced the creation of my piece. Lost Shoes, inspired by my dreams, the delusion of a desire to find my missing shoes, which is a very delicate process. I still have not found my shoes, but maybe that is not really what I am looking for.
Jolina Jasperson
Revelations
Howard W. Blake High School
Teacher: Linda Galgani
Grade 12
Inspired by Sigmund Freud’s theory that dreams reflect our subconscious desires; I created a piece depicting the internal struggles of someone experiencing delusional thinking. Delusions often manifest as coping mechanisms, protecting the individual from loss of self-esteem or strong negative emotions. The mouth represents the need to hold onto delusional beliefs as a defense mechanism, while the eye symbolizes the subconscious desire to let go of false beliefs and rid oneself of cognitive dissonance.
Olivia Milburn
Infestation of Produce
Howard W. Blake High School
Teacher: Lenny Cabanero-Harvey
Grade 11
Cheyenne Muldowney
Image to My Freshman Self
Howard W. Blake High School
Teacher: Molly Dressel
Grade 10
This piece is about my own insecurities, one of which, my size, is represented by the elephant. The distorted perspective of the bathtub showcases how alone I feel sometimes, even when I’m not. My desire to be perfect creates a lot of delusions, like that if I were skinny and delicate, it would solve all of my problems.
Madison Parker
Delicious Insecurities
Howard W. Blake High School
Teacher: Molly Dressel
Grade 10
I wanted this to represent how society desires certain things, which leads to insecurities eating away at you. Everyone has their own delicacies, so I included a cigarette because to some people they are addictive delicacies. Additionally, I included the character, candy, from the movie “candy”, because everyone desired her. The whole candy aspect ties into delicacies as well. While creating this piece, I learned that imperfect artwork, is often better at showing emotions.
Cicely Parris
The Feast
Howard W. Blake High School
Teacher: Linda Galgani
Grade 12
The theme “Delusions, Desire & Delicacies” made me think of a surreal banquet, with a corrupt person of power eating at the table. The “delicacies’ are the human-esque foods that only the nefarious rich can afford. I sculpted the pear eyeballs and squash face out of polymer clay and paint. I incorporated actual food with props and handcrafted items, like the sleeve on the arm.
Cydney Socias
Devotion
Howard W. Blake High School
Teacher: Linda Galgani
Grade 12
Through my work, I wanted to show the beauty of delicacies while also pushing the concept to its carnal and untamed extremities. I am inspired by Dalí’s use of icons and Catholic motifs, and wanted my photograph to show how the rigidity of religious conventions can adversely fuel desire. I layered multiple images with ranging opacities to enhance the feeling of a delirious state.
Preksha Jain
The Saviors and the Looters
Middleton High School
Teacher: Christine Munoz
Grade 12
The desire for resources continues to grow exponentially while the resources themselves become delicacies. The delusion of finite resources being treated as endless supplies has already begun to take its toll on society. The balance of nature is drowning, and corporations hide behind the shield of money to dodge environmental responsibilities. Ultimately, the only savior is nature itself. Juxtaposition and transformation are heavily relied on to symbolize the purpose behind each object in this piece.
Le You
Fish Skewers
Middleton High School
Teacher: Christine Munoz
Grade 10
After a class exercise, I was haunted by the image of a gutted fish so in the spirit of surrealism- I ran (or swam) with it. This originally started out in grayscale that had color eventually overlaid on top. The shadows did have to be slightly colored to get a better effect. The piece itself was not created with any particular meaning in mind, although the extractions of the viewer would be fascinating to know.
Macy Purvis
Bone-A-Lisa
Newsome High School
Teacher: Jessica Otterbacher
Grade 12
Grace Studdiford
Growing Up
Newsome High School
Teacher: Jessica Otterbacher
Grade 11
Avery Coons
Trapped?
Plant City High School
Teacher: Niki Carpenter
Grade 11
I was inspired to make this because of today’s new way of living: we are isolated from everyone and our home becomes like a prison. The large man represents a higher power like the government who is in control. Each box you can see in the distance is like a birdhouse, but for humans. They are trapped inside and the “Big Man” watches over them. One of the boxes in the background has a rope draping out and down the pedestal indicating that the people who were supposed to be imprisoned inside are escaping and the people in the box in the foreground are missing.
Isabella Cronin
Inevitability
Plant City High School
Teacher: Kiley Hingle
Grade 9
My inspiration came from some of my own past struggles. Whether it be the death of a loved one or mental health issues, I rely on art as a way to cope. This particular drawing is influenced by themes of desire and delusion – in difficult times we often feel a desire to be someone or something else, likewise, we may experience delusions of a better reality.
Ansley Varnes
Ever Seeking
Plant City High School
Teacher: Kiley Hingle
Grade 10
For my piece of artwork, Ever Seeking, I chose to use graphite, colored pencils and charcoal. The theme, “Delusions, Desires and Delicacies” inspired me to create a skeleton with a tiny shadow figure that had cracked open the skull to symbolize the delusion of fear, caviar that turns into eyes for delicacies and the heart with a skeleton that symbolizes people’s desire for love and life. The main effect I want the viewer to have is to look within themselves and see what their own delusions and desires are.
Faith Young
Apples in the Clouds
Richard C. Spoto High School
Teacher: Grace Regan
Grade 12
I was inspired by my cravings for apples and my love for painting clouds. I utilized acrylic paint. The theme of “Delusions, Desires and Delicacies influenced my artwork by the large apple representing delicacy and my desire for an apple symbolizing desired knowledge. The purple apple embodies delusion. The clouds express dream-like aspects and the unconscious mind.
Audrey Brandt
Relaxation, Interrupted
Riverview High School
Teacher: Emily Griest
Grade 12
When approaching the competition theme of “Delusions, Desires and Delicacies”, I had the future on my mind, like any high school senior. I was reminded of the bleakness of my future in a world ravaged by climate change and bigotry, and I wanted to make an art piece that reflects the future I will not be fortunate enough to experience. It is thereby a dream, delusion and desire and in nature something unattainable and surreal.
Haley Lipkins
Cosmic Flowers
Riverview High School
Teacher: Emily Griest
Grade 11
My piece explores humanity’s deepest desires. Taking inspiration from the phrase “the world is in your hands,” I wanted to depict one’s greed for power, control and greatness. When we pick a flower, we tend to think only of its beauty and not of its life. Similarly, when one is taken over by greed, they think only of their desires and forget the beauty of life itself.
Kendyl DeJoseph
Eyes of Life
Sickles High School
Teacher: Leah Woerner
Grade 11
For my project I did a plant with eyes in the leaves. It was inspired from Pinterest where, I saw other artworks that combined eyes and plants and I wanted to make my own version. I used watercolor on the plant to create a brighter and softer look that I didn’t think acrylic would accomplish. After painting, I outlined everything in an ultra-fine tip sharpie to make everything separate and stand out more. I used juxtaposition when I combined the eyes with the leaves. Scale change is also shown in the eyes and leaves because the get smaller from top to bottom. I also used levitation.
Rebekah Hangen
Infinite Universe
Sickles High School
Teacher: Susan Santell
Grade 10
As an artist, I try to create imaginative imagery that separates the mind from reality. What always inspired me about Surrealism is the distortions of scale. I used scale to pull the viewer’s perspective away from everyday life to the beauties of the unknown universe. I portray a solar system filled with colorful planets, stars, and skies. Then I painted a cliff dropping off into the unknown – space. Some smaller planets to appear closer to the observer yet look much smaller than earth. As a delusion, I painted one giant planet rising from the horizon with enormous rings. The small cars on the rings represent the delicacy of exploring the universe. I’m always fascinated by the infinite possibilities of the universe that are out of my reach. With the cliff at the end of the world, I suggest the freedom to explore by escaping from reality. The rings also represent the infinite reality loop which we can never see beyond.
Kaitlyn Heinzelmann
You Disgust Me
Sickles High School
Teacher: Leah Woerner
Grade 11
My pieces You Disgust Me utilizes the surrealist techniques of juxtaposition, dislocation, symbolism, transformation, scale, and dream-like settings. My work deals with drowning in delusions, facing and understanding deep desires, and being devoured as a delicacy. My personal method is to refer to original ideas rather than reference images.
Sraddha Karthik
Maladaptive Daydreaming
Sickles High School
Teacher: Susan Santell
Grade 10
The delusions I drew were delusions of grandeur, daydreams that the worlds of books I read are real. The desires were the balance of love and greed, the desire to be free. And the delicacies were the delicate balance of life and death, the delicate veil between delusion and reality, and the delicate freedom of fragile things. To accomplish this I employed juxtaposition, proportion, metamorphosis and levitation and furthered my copic marker and fine-liner technique.
Zoe Novak-Goodner
Not So Simply Human
Sickles High School
Teacher: Susan Santell
Grade 9
I was inspired by my alarm clock and nude figure drawings and paintings. I used watercolor paints and colored pencils. I learned to use layering of paint on top of colored pencils to enhance shading and the intensity of color. The surrealistic characteristics that I used are levitation and juxtaposition in my artwork. This artwork was fun to create and allowed my to express myself.
Anton Ozhered
False Dreams
Sickles High School
Teacher: Leah Woerner
Grade 9
This artwork is about delusions controlling our desires. Sometimes what we want isn’t actually what we need. We reach for all the delicacies in life and can lose track of what is important. The wealthy high life is the good many people are trying to reach. That is shown in the staircase. But living a normal life is also a valid goal. That is symbolized by the railroad of life and the cities on the track. The woman who got to the higher part of the staircase is looking at the God’s eye wondering about the point of her being up there. The style is inspired by my previous works and Alice in Wonderland.
Ester Rodrigues
Toxic Purity
Sickles High School
Teacher: Susan Santell
Grade 9
My name is Ester Rodrigues, and my work explores the relationship between the delicacy of nature and the delusion of purity. In an age of social media, where the glorification of women’s bodies is always on show. I hope my art piece encourages and inspires people to see the beauty in the imperfection and impurity of the natural body. The use of watercolor and colored pencil to draw a forest of pure, imperfectly perfect mushroom bodies corrodes into a charcoal and graphite dead flower representing the delusion and desire that society has of needing females to be perceived as pure, leaving the surreal image of delusions, desires, and delicacies.
Jason Staley
What Lies Beneath
Sickles High School
Teacher: Leah Woerner
Grade 9
I was inspired by the thought of creating something unlike anything I have done before. I wanted to send the message that there is always something that lies beneath the surface of someone. I chose to draw a surreal sculpture of a woman’s face transforming into a skeleton. I used pencil and acrylic paint to create this work. I discovered I am capable of doing more than I originally thought.
Cindy Vu
Columns Elapsing
Sickles High School
Teacher: Leah Woerner
Grade 9
Is it really so wrong to be stuck in the past? This piece is meant to show that desire. As the warped pillars travel up, the cracks forming reveal how constantly indulging in the past can lead to unhealthy delusion. Following the same path, the figure becomes more stylistically simple as they continue to long for “simpler times.”
Kaleighia Engman
The Persistence of Time and the Illusion of Beauty
Steinbrenner High School
Teacher: Kris Watkinson
Grade 12
Amelia Bitting
Garden of Eatin’
Strawberry Crest High School
Teacher: Barbara Lawton
Grade 10
I chose to tie my work to the seven deadly sins, and although I didn’t plan to use a religious theme, I believe this piece could represent gluttony or overeating. I incorporated intense colors and textures to enhance the dreamlike quality.
Rylie Gibson
Delusion of Hope
Strawberry Crest High School
Teacher: Barbara Lawton
Grade 11
The egg running away from the skeleton symbolizes one allowing fear to get in the way of hope and goals for the future. The spiders crawling on the levitating egg and turning it into a mass on the floor is a visual of fear’s heaviness. The fleeing egg represents a chance for hope to survive… or is it just a delusion?
Selina Ramos
The Fish Keeper
Strawberry Crest High School
Teacher: Barbara Lawton
Grade 12
In a delusion or a dream, your imagination is unlimited. Actual faces, however, are the one thing many people don’t see in dreams, especially their own face. Your imagination can evolve into anything. In this piece, the mouth of the fish opens as it tries to suck in everything around it and keep the dream from ending.
Alexzandria Rice
Delicious Nightmare
Strawberry Crest High School
Teacher: Barbara Lawton
Grade 11
Delicacies… we all have our own. Society deludes us and twists our perception, forcing us to view our own desires as something terrifying. This nightmarish state of mind makes us focus on things we crave. Our brain makes these images grotesque and undesirable, but we can’t help but to yearn for them anyways.
Madison O’Connor
Untitled
Sumner High School
Teacher: Valerie Deluca
Grade 9
Melissa Worman
The Massacre
Sumner High School
Teacher: Valerie Deluca
Grade 11
I connected to the idea of “Delusions, Desires and Delicacies” by focusing on the subjugation of women as the object of men’s desires. The broken statue represents women who have been “broken” at the hands of men. All of the other characters are female, except the one male (with the mustache), who looks straight at the audience, taking both the credit and the blame for the massacre.
Johanna Kunz
The Misleading Reflection
Tampa Preparatory School
Teacher: Martha DeAmbrose
Grade 10
The skeletal figure is gazing upon a mirror that allows them to see their ideal self. But in the process of pursuing this ideal, they’re starved of all the things that make life beautiful, and by the time they get there, the skeleton is able to notice all of “perfection’s” flaws. So the question is: is it really worth it?
Sam Morin
Open to Interpretation
Tampa Preparatory School
Teacher: Martha DeAmbrose
Grade 11
This piece is a printed self-portrait that also reflects my dreams. What really happens when we close our eyes at night? I’m not sure if this is the case for anyone else, but none of my dreams make sense. I can pinpoint certain shapes, colors and people, but can’t exactly tell you what’s going on. I wanted to transfer that into my art by creating a piece with things you distinguish that simultaneously make no sense.
Michelina Schach
Window to the Future
Tampa Preparatory School
Teacher: Martha DeAmbrose
Grade 12
The eye depicts a “window to the future,” where a litter-ridden city floods through the window frame, small hands tug at the eyelid, and a jar collects its tears. The space outside of the eye is deserted, dried land filled with roots and bones. The piece speaks to delusion and nightmare; it is both a fearful prediction about climate change, and the future itself, existing simultaneously in one dimension.
Nina Tulshi
Mother Nature
Wharton High School
Teacher: Curt Steckel
Grade 11
Sabrina Valencia
Rosekettle
Wharton High School
Teacher: Curt Steckel
Grade 11