Jocelyn Zavala-Garcia's Reflection Post

New Sustained Investigation: The challenges that surround immigration, whether it be before, during, or after the process. 

Changes and revisions: First, I wanted my SI to be about the struggles and joys of immigration. I created my first two drawings and felt like they were not conveying the emotion and reality of immigration that I wanted, so I did more research. I revised what would be the synthesis, which is b&w and color, as well as gates. I also changed the topics conveyed, including the risks immigrants take when leaving and what they are leaving behind, instead of showing both the joys and challenges. 

1. "Reality" --> The collage of the painting is showing the challenges that come before, during, and after immigration, since there are passages of people explaining their reason of leaving their home country, the possible deaths along the journey, and the hard work that comes after. Also, I am explaining the huge risk that comes with immigration, the separation of families. 

2. "Escape" --> This painting is meant to show the challenges immigrants have to endure in their home country, and are some of the reasons they have for leaving. This includes, gangs (which is why I chose a spray painted background), drug cartels (the trash bag with a message on it), and the violence from these (the red paint blood stains). I also wanted to explore the process of the separation of families as a story line, from a parent trying to protect their child, to a parent holding their child tight knowing it is going to be last time they are together, and then to a kid getting taken by immigration officers. 

3. "Left Behind" --> This painting is about the challenge of leaving behind everything known when immigrating. This is my great-grandma's house, which was vibrant and full of life before most of my family immigrated. Now, her house is dull and everything is dark. I wanted to show how when migrants leave, they are locking away these memories and their culture to assimilate in a new country, and when they go back to visit, nothing is ever the same. 

My AP Goals: 

1. I want to learn how to draw more realistically this year in AP Studio because I don't tend to go the realistic route most of the time, but I want to expand my options. 

2. I also want to find and learn more about my personal style so that I can showcase it in my portfolio. 

I would definitely like to continue exploring these goals during the rest of this year. I have not done too much realistic art because I have been more drawn to expressionism, but I could try sketching some realistic portraits or some body features so I become more comfortable with them. I personally feel like I have developed my personal style into something that I am passionate about this year, using topics that may be controversial but need to be talked about, and showcasing them in an expressive way along with 3D features to evoke a sort of emotion. However, there is always room to grow and develop my style even further.