Whilst looking through the many interesting as well as confusing pieces of art in the Broadsided Special Features Response to the Syrian Refugees, I found one that in a way stood out to me. This happened to be the one by Sarah Van Sanden, which she named “Seed on Envelope” seen here:
Ok so I’m no art expert, nor am I anywhere close to an artist, but this one particularly stood out to me. Maybe it had to do with the motion of the white crayon- a real explosion on her canvas. Maybe it had to do with the detailed gray crayon drawings in the background. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she actually used a real manila folder to draw her idea on. Whatever it may be- it stood out to me.
So lets break it down: what i SEE is a white, star-shaped crayon drawing on the top, while darker and more gray crayon doodles follow up in the background. This is all drawn onto a manila folder.
So lets break it down: what i KNOW is that this piece of art was created for Broadsided Special Features, specifically in response to the Syrian refugees in Europe. I have learned that these refugees are currently going through the process of becoming European citizens, whether that be in Greece, Germany, or Hungary- they are all just looking for refuge from their former country. However, the European countries are horrifically awful at granting citizenship to people looking to join their country, so much so, that it could possibly take 5-10 years for them to grant citizenship to a refugee. During this time, they would unable to find work, while having 3-4 mouths to feed along with it.
So what’s the relationship between textual and contextual analysis? Well, all I can tell you is that this artist created this piece of work based off of the Syrian refugees coming through Europe to symbolize the struggle and pain that these refugees are facing in the process. To me, it had an emotional impact, and that’s what stuck the most.
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