Justina Benetis

Wool Over Their Eyes

( 11" x 2.5" x 3")

Materials: Air-dry clay, wood, Acrylic Paint, Wool Fabric

The Escape of Time

( 14" x 5" x 5.5" )

Materials:

Wood, Air-dry clay

The Escape of Time

The sculpture, The Escape of Time, reflects the pressure from society to achieve the ideal form of success by such a young age, creating individuals to feel as if there is not enough time. The Escape of Time visually communicates the need to go to college, find the perfect career, and make the money at such a young age, that it almost feels time is escaping you and that there is not enough of it. This in return has affected adolescent mental health. Overall, The Escape of Time sculpture reflects an hourglass, as the human bust is fading into nothingness to show the price we pay for the pressure to succeed.

RESEARCH

The Price we Pay for the Pressure to Succeed

“With higher exposure to the “success” of others and fewer coping skills than generations reared through hardship, America’s teen population is increasingly falling victim to bouts of anxiety and depression that are not just chronic, but debilitating.”

https://www.claudiablackcenter.com/the-price-we-pay-for-the-pressure-to-succeed/

The Irrational Desire to Achieve

“Lead author Thomas Curran, PhD, of the University of Bath says that this is the first study to examine generational differences in perfectionism—which he and his co-author Andrew Hill, PhD, of York St John University, define as, “an irrational desire to achieve along with being overly critical of oneself and others.”

https://thriveworks.com/blog/pressure-succeed-negatively-impact-young-peoples-mental-health/

The Decline of Mental Health

“This increase in perfectionism could very well be affecting the psychological health of today’s college students, according to Hill, who cited higher levels of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts than a decade ago.”

https://thriveworks.com/blog/pressure-succeed-negatively-impact-young-peoples-mental-health/

Wool Over Their Eyes

The sculpture, Wool Over Their Eyes, reflects the metaphor known as “to pull the wool over someone’s eyes.” Simply put, this means one is being deceived and manipulated. The bust stands on children playing blacks, painted in primary colors to visually communicate a child is on top. The wool over the Childs eyes illustrates the social commentary of how children are susceptible to social influence. Believing something just because someone else told them it was true, for example. It is important to be wary of this, as it shapes the human being they are and will be. Overall, this sculpture conveys the message that children are so impressionable and important of that.

RESEARCH

Children Brains are so Impressionable

“Although the brain continues to develop throughout life, children’s brains are far more impressionable (or plastic) than adult brains, meaning that they are both more open to learning and to being shaped by outside factors.”

https://digitalwellnesslab.org/parents/brain-development/

The Effect of Media on Children

“Media play an important role in children’s environment and subsequently affect children’s developing brain.”

https://digitalwellnesslab.org/parents/brain-development/

“As the brain isn’t fully developed until young adulthood, children’s media use can have a big impact on how their brains process information, outwardly affecting how they react to and remember events in any given situation.”

https://digitalwellnesslab.org/parents/brain-development/

In Process Pictures

The Shrine For Greek Mythology

(16" x 14" x 8" )

Materials: Foam Board, Fabric, Hot Glue, Rope, Gold Ink, White Sharpie, Fake Vines, Fur, Clay, Acrylic Paint, Beads, Modge Podge, Fake Snake Leather

The concept for this sculpture was influence by the book, Cabinets of Curiosity, specifically the chapter, Why Boiling People is Wrong. Relics were discusses throughout the text, illustrating how inanimate objects hold some much power. Shrines, tombs, and pyramids are made to cherish relics. This piece, The Shrine for Greek Mythology was inspired by such. The inanimate objects showcased, belonging to Greek mythology is of an eye of a Cyclops and the snake skin of Medusa. The Shrine itself being presented and decorated so grand to express the importance and value of these inanimate objects. The triangular shape, covered in gold colors is very relevant to spiritual beliefs and denotes the generosity and the divinity of the shrine and the relics. In the end, I attended to convey the significance and value people put into relics, which they wholeheartedly believe hold spiritual power.