acrylic on paper; 14×11”
“My art piece is about Substance Abuse, a major issue in the world and something I’ve had to deal with in my own life. I represent the issue in a metaphorical way depicting a person holding poppy flowers, and an anthropomorphic representation of Death getting married by a doctor. The meaning behind this is how the medical industry can prescribe addictive drugs and then stop once the person is addicted leaving no other choice than to look to the streets, usually leading to death. People who struggle with substance abuse is no fault of their own; most of the time the drugs start from being prescribed for a health problem.”
ARTIST BIO: Gavin Nicholas-Fraley is a Grade 12 student at Butler Tech School of Art (SOA).
PROJECT: After learning about human rights in Mrs. Valerie Folz’ Government classes at Butler Tech School of the Arts, 45 high school students chose a human rights issue they wanted to research. Then in Mrs. Mary Catherine Ruby’s Visual Art + Design classes they visually communicated their voice through their art using symbolic imagery to represent the human rights issue they had selected.