I Can’t Breathe
By Ava Garderet
Ava Garderet is a highschool senior in Dallas, Texas. She has loved to paint since she was very little, and always looked forward to art class at school. Garderet’s art teacher encouraged students to keep a consistent “theme” throughout their body of work, and Garderet would describe her piece as reactions to the world around her. "I Can't Breathe" was Garderet’s response to the murder of George Floyd, intended to be a sort of tribute to both him and the attention his death brought to social justice issues involving racial inequality. Garderet used oil paint on a piece of multimedia paper to depict Floyd's face against a background of flames and protestors to symbolize both of these intentions with this piece.