linoleum print
“My artwork addresses the social issue of school districts banning books from being taught in the classroom, and it also is no longer available to read from that collection, or at the library. This is personally significant to me, because I love to read, and the thought of some of the most powerful, eye-opening books being banned for their content is wrong. Also, thinking from the lens of the author who created this work, and their voice and stories being silenced by the bans, is also inherently wrong. My image communicates the idea of books being banned as fire is consuming the titles, and blurring the names from view, with giant block letters within the fire. The image of seeing many popular books, and some that many people might have emotional attachment to, consumed by fire, is one that should strike the viewer as inherently wrong. The artists I researched used big block letters as well to convey their message and I took inspiration from that.”
ARTIST BIO: Haley BAKER is a student at Summit Country Day School studying art under art teacher Carrie Barnett.