What We Carry is an oil-based painting that seeks to represent and honour student identity through a mixture of abstract realism and nature symbolism.
For me, to matter at VIU means to be accepted for all that you are, and to know that you are not alone no matter what you may feel or experience. My work attempts to acknowledge both the external factors that define us – like clothing, books, technology, and other physical belongings – as well as the internal factors such as conflicting thoughts, emotions, and experiences that we all carry hidden within. It seeks to acknowledge both the hardships and triumphs, the pain, and the joy, while offering up hope and possibility for the future.
I hope this work can serve as a reminder that only you can define your own journey and define who you are and want to be. Only you get to choose what to carry with you – physically, emotionally, spiritually – as you move forward in your life. The future is unknown, but it’s also yours to create. And it’s up to you to decide what your future will be defined by.
FEATURED ARTIST
Kashmir Lesnick-Petrovicz
Bachelor of Arts Student, 4th Year