Perspective can mean a lot of things. It can be a mindset, belief or even the physical way that someone looks at something. I find the different perspectives that people have to be fascinating, so I decided to explore the meaning of perspective through my art. The ambiguity of perspective inspired me to use a variety of mediums in my pieces, so that each one could convey a different idea about the meaning of perspective. For example, my still life, “The Cube”, is meant to depict a realistic perspective of a scene in which a rubik's cube sits on a table. This scene was a challenge to create because I began by drawing a rubik's cube based on a stock photo. In order to create a background for the piece, I experimented taking pictures of an actual rubik's cube sitting on a table until I took one from a perspective that made the cube in the picture have all the same dimensions as the cube I had already drawn. This picture then revealed what the edge of the table in the background would look like, and where the bowl sitting in the background should be placed relative to the cube. I also explored people’s perspectives and beliefs through my piece, “Land of the gun”. This acrylic painting of an American flag with white guns instead of stars is meant to evoke different feelings in people with different beliefs about guns. Those who believe that guns are negative and need to be controlled could interpret the piece as a statement about guns being an issue while gun advocates may interpret the piece as a tribute to the historical significance of guns in the United States. It all depends on the viewer's perspective. Another way that I explored perspective was through my perspective of myself in the piece, “Who am I?” I first created a self portrait, using oil pastels, that is meant to symbolize two sides of my personality. I represented my studious side with a green self portrait that highlights my eyes and glasses. I then represented my playful, fun side with an orange self portrait of me smiling with my glasses off. I also created a realistic perspective of my face in my self portrait, “Who I am” using charcoal and white pencil. In order to capture a realistic expression, I carefully created shadows with the charcoal that gave my self portrait value that implies depth. I also used a white pencil to create highlights that help bring the face to life. In my piece, “Isolation” I explored my perspective on what it means to grow up. The acrylic painting features the Earth in the center, surrounded by space with a small island floating in the top left corner of the painting. On the island sits my house, symbolizing how I am isolated from the rest of the world in my house. As I grow up, I progressively move out of the house, and into the world. This piece also represents my belief that growing up is not always easy. Becoming a member of the world instead of an isolated child can feel like traveling to Earth from outerspace. The underlying goal of my art has been to convey unique perspectives that help people understand both the meaning of perspective, and help us better understand each other.