Artist Statement

This drawing is by a teenage Syrian refugee girl from a class which turned bad things into good things. The exercise involved three layers of two-minute drawings. The first step was a pencil drawing. The student drew a symbolic border to "contain" the bad things to come, then added elements that were "bad things." Next, the bad things were colored, to give them more reality and life. Some students were unable to use any color at all without help and support. Finally, the student completely painted over the bad with "good things," in bright colors, giving the experience of replacing the bad with the good. — David Gross