This piece of artwork represents September 11th. I created a drawing of the Brooklyn Bridge and the New York skyline using pencil. During 9/11, transportation was shut down and thousands of people had to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to leave New York, and many of them had no knowledge of what was going on. The bridge in my drawing has little light, representing darkness, fear, and confusion. Additionally, the lack of color in the bridge and the city skyline attempts to create a somber mood. With watercolor paint, I added a streak of blue and red across the negative space in the sky above the drawing. The streak appears similar to the American Flag, and the red specifically represents the bravery of first responders who risked or lost their lives to save others. This burst of color also symbolizes how amidst a time of darkness, people came together to help each other out.

In moments of emotion and trauma, people often create art to express something that they feel. I believe that this is because through techniques (use of different medias, colors, including imagery, etc) art can understood by any audience. Sometimes, a painting can express an emotion or a poem can explain a scene in a way that verbal communication cannot. During World War One especially, people relied on art as a medium for expression, revealing important details, beliefs and values surrounding the context in which piece was created. For instance, the collage “Last Wiemar BeerBelly Cultural Epoch in Germany” by Hannah Höch expresses the authors negative beliefs towards the ongoing WWI as well as details regarding figures and events involved in the war.

Looking at my own piece of art, I am most proud of the detail and shading on the Brooklyn Bridge. However, I definitely could have added more detail to the skyline and should have incorporated the streak across the sky in a different manner. I feel that I also could have improved upon the concept behind the piece, as without knowledge of September 11th or any other context, the meaning is very vague. This piece, like many of the works created during WWI, served as a vehicle to express the feelings and emotions associated with a certain event. By creating it, my goal was to show the confusion, trauma, and sadness of the events of 9/11 and to highlight the bravery of first responders.