Jocelyn Zavala-Garcia's Capstone Project

For my Capstone project I chose to focus on “systems”, specifically the police system, and the brutality police use towards African Americans. I started out my project by going online and finding photos of men with their hands up to show the act of surrender, which I would transfer onto my board. Thus, I went to find a used particle board with minimal paint so that I could personally add it myself. I wanted to use a used board because it has history to it since other people used it prior to myself, relating to police brutality which has been an ongoing problem throughout history. I painted over some of the particle board but also left some as it had been, to show how there are new cases occurring every day but that does not hide what happened in the past. 

I also did my research, finding some powerful protest photos that gave me inspiration for specific details I wanted to add to my final piece. For example, I included the detail of smoke from the fires around the men’s figure, since he was taking part in the fire that would fuel future generations of African Americans. I also used the scraper tool with black, white, and red acrylic paint to add wide strokes. I wanted the red to represent the bloodshed from the lives lost to the police system, and also the fact that people are willing to sacrifice their lives in protests to protect their community.

 I included him wearing a mask because many of the photos from the BLM potests had people wearing masks due to the pandemic and I wanted to evoke the feeling of being safe from the pandemic but not safe from the police. I also added text throughout the piece, both in the border and the piece itself. I wrote “Don’t” on one hand, and “Shoot” on the other because I found that many people did this in the protests, and it adds to the message of surrender. I also wrote “RIP ….-....” on his chest to signify the T-shirts created by family members or friends after the death of someone. The dots represent the years they were born and had died, because many African Americans live with the fear that they will be the next face on one of these T-shirts. 

Finally, I made a border out of cardboard that I had personally ripped to represent what most of the signs at the protests were made from. I included messages that were prevalent in those signs such as, “How many more?”, “Black Lives Matter”, “Say their names”, and “When will this end?” Through this capstone project I wanted to bring awareness to police brutality by experimenting with different brush strokes, using a paper towel as a brush as well, and intentional placement of materials, reminding people that these protests will not be forgotten. 

The title for my artwork is "How Many More?", and I really like the outcome. I think I evoked the theme well through materials and ideas, especially with the research I did. The background gives an abstract view, but it still has meaning to it, and my favorite part would definitely have to be the border because of the texture created and the text on it.