Selin Alexandra Legacy Scholarship for the Arts

Art has always been my way of making sense of loss—of finding meaning in the uncontrollable forces that shape my life. When my favorite chemistry teacher passed away, I felt an emptiness. She had been the kind of teacher who could make even the most complex topics feel approachable, filling the classroom with curiosity, warmth, and humor. Her passion for teaching was contagious, and I thrived under her guidance. Losing her was sudden and disorienting. I found myself unable to express the grief in words, so instead, I turned toward art. No Winner became my way of confronting that loss. In the piece, a soldier slumps in a restaurant booth, his shoulders heavy with exhaustion and grief. A glass of beer, tightly clutched, is his last comfort. Around him, ghostly outlines of his fallen comrades hover—faint, fragile, their presence reduced to empty silhouettes. The harsh lines of the booth enclose him, isolating him in a small, suffocating space. As I worked on the details, I thought about the weight of memory, about how absence can feel just as real as presence. Each stroke of my colored pencil carried a memory—of lectures filled with laughter, of encouragement, of the realization that some people leave an impact far greater than they ever know. Grief is strange. It lingers in quiet moments, in the spaces where someone’s voice used to be. Creating No Winner helped me make sense of those emotions, turning pain into something tangible. But that wasn’t the first time art had helped me process uncertainty. When the COVID-19 pandemic upended everything, I turned to The Dance, a piece that captured the unpredictability of life and the ways people find rhythm even in chaos. I used sweeping strokes of charcoal to create blurred, energetic figures—dancers who moved despite the uncertainty surrounding them. The piece reflected not just the external turmoil of the pandemic but also my own struggles with isolation and uncertainty about the future. Beyond personal loss, my art explores themes of control and chaos. In Veil of Doubt, I tackled imposter syndrome, layering fragmented magazine words behind an obscured face to reflect the relentless self-doubt that consumes the mind. In Hello World, I examined society’s shifting relationship with AI, portraying a girl turned away from a robot in hesitation—curious but cautious. These works all stem from a deep desire to understand emotions that often feel overwhelming, giving form to the unseen struggles that so many experience. Art has given me a way to express emotions that words fail to capture, and I hope my work does the same for others. Grief, uncertainty, fear—these emotions can feel isolating, but through art, I have found a way to process them and invite others to connect with those feelings. I want to create work that acknowledges struggle while also offering a sense of connection. Losing my chemistry teacher was painful, but No Winner ensured that her impact didn’t just fade into memory. Through my art, I can preserve moments, honor those who shaped me, and transform grief into something lasting. I hope to continue using art as a tool for reflection, helping others see their own stories within the images I create.