Photos of honeycomb and bees have been layered into a rectangular repeating background.

Chanika Svetvilas “What I Have Learned”

by Jessica Suzanne Stokes
Image description from artist: My gaping mouth fills the entire page of lightly lined paper as I bare my crooked teeth. At the back of the mouth in caps and reversed is an EXIT sign. In front of the mouth are three lines of heavy barbed wire centered in front of the mouth.

The cover of the Buzz-Zine Volume II is “What I Have Learned” by Chanika Svetvilas

Artist’s Statement: This drawing was created in May 2021 after Derek Chauvin was found guilty of George Floyd’s murder, during the height of the anti-Asian violence protests and the rising death toll of migrants at the southern border. I thought of the strength and resounding voices of protest and the solidarity despite the barriers, conditions, and systemic racism. I reflected on my own experience of being under lockdown in the hospital and acutely aware of which side of the exit I was on. The only exit I had was within me — my imagination.

Image description from artist: My gaping mouth fills the entire page of lightly lined paper as I bare my crooked teeth. At the back of the mouth in caps and reversed is an EXIT sign. In front of the mouth are three lines of heavy barbed wire centered in front of the mouth.

What I have Learned (Fill in the Blank) series – We Will Not Be Silent, charcoal on lined paper, 36″ x 24″