COVID CULTURE. Atara Zmora, 12, pictured above, is investigating a concept unique to 2020-2021: the ways the pandemic has affected interactions with others and personal mood.

MOOD. Zmora’s artwork sparked realizations about the pandemic’s impact on her mood and emotional state. “I realized that I feel a lot lonelier than I show… I am a lot more optimistic in regards to the pandemic and what the future holds,” Zmora says.

FRUSTRATION. Another one of Zmora’s pieces, which illustrates the frustration of the pandemic’s longevity.

DOLDRUMS. Ella Wahlquist, 12, who is focusing on the concept of loneliness in her artwork, found a unique source of inspiration. “I was looking up words on thesaurus.com because I didn’t know what to do [for my art investigation] and I found the word ‘doldrums’ which means ‘space where there is a lack of stimulation’. It’s actually a space in the ocean, but this is how I applied it,” Wahlquist says.

LONELINESS. Another one of Wahlquist’s artworks.

BREAKING FREE. “I’m looking at how toxic standards affect people for my investigation because there’s a lot that goes on in people’s heads that they don’t want to talk about. I hope that maybe my art can get people talking and break some of that stigma,” Maya Berry, 12.

STANDARDS. Berry’s favorite piece (above) focuses on body image standards, an issue that affects many teenagers.

ELEMENTS. Others, such as Anna Ingle, 12, focused their attention on physical elements like the importance of light and ways to use it artistically.

LIGHT. “I chose to investigate [light] because it has always intrigued me and you can do a lot of different things in this inquiry,” Ingle says.