This Thursday, Wilsonville High School had a fiesta! Wilsonville hosted its annual Dia De Los Muertos Festival which included an art gallery showcasing Wilsonville Student’s amazing art. In the spirit of the holiday, many of the student’s projects honored deceased loved ones or people they admire who have passed away. Many of them were unfinished but they still carried a deep level of personal meaning and beauty.

Ciera Ross  

So it’s a piece to honor Alexander McQueen in 2010. He is a designer for Givenchy and later his brand under his name. His pieces are very emotional, controversial, and changed the fashion world. My art piece is based off his runway Voss where at the end a lady in a box was revealed as the side of the box fell down and shattered. The women in the box was stylized with inspiration from the art piece by Joel Peter Witkin called Sanitarium. It is kind of complex because it’s not blatantly about Alexander McQueen. He also wanted to empower women and didn’t like them being hurt or used so I feel like this lady showed that.

Portia Woods

My piece isn’t exactly a person, for the past few years I have already painted deceased family members/important people and I ran out! So, I wanted to do a mixed- culture piece, kinda saying that certain groups of people and their cultures aren’t necessarily dead, just being changed.

Amanda Elliot

I did this piece on my mother’s father. I call him this because, unfortunately, I never actually knew him. His name was Jim Dillie, and he died when my mom was 10-which had a major impact on her life. My mom had a less than optimal life after this, and growing up I always wondered what her life would’ve been like if he’d been there. I don’t know much about him, but I knew he was kind, and that my mom really loved him. He served in the Navy in WWII, on a minesweeper, and his ship went down. He was presumed dead, KIA. Then, he called from an island near where his ship went down asking who was picking him up. He had a dry sense of humor-like most people in our family. Whenever his wife drug him to costume parties he dressed in thing that didn’t require much effort: One year he taped sugar cubes to his watch and went as “Sugar time”. He was quite no nonsense, as many were in his time, but he still had fun. He is the reason that my mom loves to camp, as do I, and the rest of my family. He passed because of lung cancer, my mom remembers him wanting a lot of silence. He would sit in his study, in a green chair and wouldn’t let anyone in. Except my mom. She would sneak in really quiet, and sit on his lap. She was so still, and quiet, that he enjoyed her calming presence. Today, my mom has a green chair in her office. She says that it reminds her of that same chair, and she sits in it everyday. I did this piece to represent his impact on her. Him, a glowing presence, watering her favorite flower, a Gerbera Daisy.

Kameron Koslowski

My  piece is about Bill Finger. He was a comic book writer and created the Joker! He and his company’s comics has influenced me to create art that pushes me outside of my comfort zone. I chose to draw the joker because he is Bills most famous creation.