watercolor, ink, colored pencils; 16×20”
“In my piece, you can see a field of poppy, which represents opioids. Mixed within the field of poppies are different flowers, white flowers represent the mental health, the blue represent anxiety, yellow flowers are to represent pain, the orange flowers represent lying. the last flower I used was purple, which represents the help that you can get even when struggling. I use a path that leads to 2 different places, one is a place filled with graves and dark skies. The other road leads to a world full of color and the skies are beautiful. This represents that if you continue to use drugs, you will die, but if you get the needed help, you can have a beautiful life. I used a sun that peaks through onto the path that represents the help and something reaching out to help. I want this piece to show the depth of drug abuse, because I believe that people see it in just black and white. I’m very passionate about the topic of opioid addiction I have grown up around drug addiction. My family members all are addicted to opioids. Many of them do really bad things due to drugs. Unfortunately, I have even lost one drug abuse. I have seen the damage it’s done to themselves and their families, and for a long time I thought they were horrible people because of it. Then, as I got older, I saw that drug addiction is caused by so many different factors. I know someone personally who struggles with drug addiction and has even died had had to be brought back to life to a drug overdose. They started drugs because they’re just needed something to take away the pain, and so they turned to perc’s.”
ARTIST BIO: Liberty Richards is a grade 12 student at Butler Tech School of Art studying art under art teacher Mary Catherine Ruby.