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Jazmine Ibarra

Dr. Sarah Thaller

Fire Cohort

8 December 2020

Protest Art Essay

Issue and Stance: The issue that I am addressing is mental health, the stigma surrounding it, and the need

to eliminate shame. I care about this issue because I haven’t been in a great place. I’ve been sad, angry,

confused, and have felt so alone. Despite the loving and supporting friends and family surrounding me, I

have felt this way for a long time. A part of this feeling of loneliness is my being misunderstood, which

has served to deepen this feeling and thought of being utterly alone in my feelings, my thoughts, and my

own world, even though I know that there is more to life than just little old me. I was never diagnosed

with depression, but I will say that I have been in a dark place for a long time. Most people think of me as

a happy, helpful, and hardworking student. I’d like to think I’m all of those things, but there is no way

that one can be happy all the time. At least not for me. My emotions and how much I feel of a certain

emotion tend to fluctuate. I wanted to stress that it takes wanting change for yourself to move forward.

Fears, doubts, and thoughts can soon become obsessive or detrimental to one’s well-being. It is important

to be aware of mental health because it is especially apparent in today’s society. My protest art shows

some thoughts or phrases that can cause someone to have negative thoughts and eventually walk down a

darker path. A path where they feel so misunderstood and lost and can no longer be helped by anyone.

The other idea, I want to embody love, acceptance, and grace in the form of friendship. I had some people

who helped me get out of the dark place I used to be, but even now, the darkness threatens to consume me

in the form of thoughts. I care about this issue a lot because I’m starting to care more about myself. I’ve

cared about a lot of people despite my distance and lack of enthusiasm. I care about a lot of people now. I

think that mental health is always going to be important. It is the mind, body, and people that help us, but

in the end, it is all up to the person who is suffering from the darkness of despair. Everyone has their own
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story and although I cannot speak for everyone, I can speak for myself and serve as a common ground for

those who also identify with the feelings and thoughts that I have had.

Protest Art Medium: My protest art medium is acrylic paint and markers on cardboard. The cardboard

isn’t very strong unless reinforced with some type of pattern on the inside, usually triangles or repetition

of vertical lines, but I used it just because it is all that I have at the moment. The paper would rip and tear

with the amount of paint I used to make my protest art. My idea was to paint the silhouette of a girl crying

on the floor with patches of different colors on them and a dark background. The girl is painted as if she is

losing her colors. There are patches of different colors that represent emotions such as the following anger

(red), sadness (blue), envy/jealousy (green), and loss of emotion (gray). In the background are words of

self-hate written in silver or metallic Sharpie. I painted the silhouette of a girl crouched on the floor with

her head resting on her knees. I think that this idea makes sense concerning the issue. I have been

struggling with self-hate for a while. Despite the number of compliments I have received from my loving

family and friends, I have a hard time believing that because of the number of lies I have fed myself over

the years. I have incorporated lies, negative, and unkind words that correlate with self-hate into the

painting. A lot of times sadness can feel suffocating and can render one helpless and that is something that

I hope I was able to portray in my painting. I believe that this is a meaningful/impactful medium because

art has always been so moving no matter the background of the audience. I think it can change minds,

move hearts, and bring along a message to someone. I am most inspired to use this medium because I

enjoy painting and I think it will work just as well as a poem. The second painting is one that contrasts the

previous one. Instead of being dark, it is mostly light. The background or the majority of the painting is

painted in white. There are two figures in the painting...friends, sisters, whoever the audience thinks it to

be, in a rectangle. One figure is hugging the other. The second figure is the one being hugged. The second

figure is shaking/trembling as if crying, but you can only see the back of her head. I wanted to make this

drawing a bit cute because the first painting was so sad, but it is the truth. The truth is not always

something that makes people happy. I also wrote the words, “everything is going to be okay” above the

figures’ heads. Not everyone has to believe this, but I believe that in the end, everything turns out okay.
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As an introvert, I tend to overthink things and this phrase often helps me to relax, but especially when I

am being told by a friend or a family member. I find it to be comforting and I would like to share this

comfort with anyone else who needs to hear these words.

Display Plan: I plan to display my protest art on a telephone pole in my neighborhood, which is right next

to the mailboxes. I had two of my friends post my protest art on their Instagram so hopefully, it is able to

reach a broader audience. I also posted a photo of it on my digital portfolio for others to see. I want those

who are struggling to reach out, specifically those who are feeling lost, lonely, and misunderstood

because these are all feelings that I am familiar with. I would like for them to be inspired or at least

encouraged to reach out to me or someone else such as our school mental health specialist. I have started

on my journey to self-love and self-care in a much better way thanks to our school’s mental health

specialist. She has been of great help to me from our very first session together. Even if we can only be

heard by one another via Zoom meetings, she has been so kind and compassionate. I would like to make

this painting as a reminder of people who have helped me get out of the dark place I used to be. I want it

to show that you can get out of the dark place if only you ask for it. You can’t be helped without reaching

out and wanting to change for yourself.