Ewa > Art

My Artwork

mathNEWS v.155 Spring/Summer 2024 ("S24") Semester Anthology Cover: 'Harvest' (Oct. 2023)

A digitally drawn cover I did for mathNEWS v156.3 (Fall 2024, issue 3), which ended up becoming the cover for the anthology instead (or so the editors tell me!). I spilled ham gravy on the original pencil crayon drawing (see below) so I redrew a new copy digitally.

mathNEWS v156.3 Cover Draft: 'Harvest' (Oct. 2023)

The original cover I was going to make for mathNEWS v156.3 (Fall 2024, issue 3). I dropped a piece of ham on my drawing, and anyways I had messed it up in other ways, so I just redid it digitally. Based upon the Art Nouveau work 'Primrose' (1899), by Alphonse Mucha.

mathNEWS v155.2 Cover: 'Ouroboros'

A cover for mathNEWS v155.2. It's supposed to be an anchovy (because of mathNEWS pizza nights!) but it looks more like a snake or something. It has elements that may or may not be intended to represent the university's stubbornness in divesting from Technion, and the damage that the "status quo" approach causes; the progressive veneer shed to reveal a colonial institution unchanged since its creation… ya know, whatevs.

mathNEWS v155.2 Cover: 'Anchovies!'

The first cover I made for mathNEWS. Drawn in pencil at first and then I evened out the black in the tin and drew the little fishies digitally and a couple other things digitally.

'Yearbook Art 2022–2023' (Sept. 2022)

An illustration of stacked crows I did in 12th grade, using pencil crayon. The theme was "making memories", though looking back on it, it doesn't much look like I followed the theme.

'Bone Still Life Series', 1/3 (2022)

This was an assignment we had to draw a still life in three different styles: a technically accurate black-and-white style, a colour version, and an abstract version with an emphasis on linework. This is the first of those three drawings; on paper I drew it a little small but I've cropped it in line with the others so you can't tell, lol. I did this with a black ballpoint pen, but since the ballpoint ink is shiny, it didn't scan as well as I'd hoped.

'Bone Still Life Series', 2/3 (2022)

This is the second drawing for my assignment. We had just done a colour study beforehand with paints and I was interested to see if the same principles applied in my preferred medium as well. I wanted to experiment with the idea that blending complimentary (opposite) colours makes the colours less bright, and blending analogous (similar) colours makes them brighter.

'Bone Still Life Series', 3/3 (2022)

This is the third drawing in my series. I usually find abstraction to be challenging, but I think this turned out okay!

'Lino Print Heart' (2022–2023)

Linoleum print of a heart. I did a series of prints in a variety of colours, but I liked this one the best: the textured gold speaking to the emotive qualities of the heart, and the messy red splatter evoking and representing emotion. The fog/clouds represent the obscurity and lack of clarity of the heart's desire.

'Untitled' (2022)

This was an exercise in abstraction. I was pretty burned out of school by the 12th grade, and so for this art assignment I just picked up a few oil pastels and illustrated what I was feeling. To me, it kind of looks like a faceless creature, some kind of half-formed or deformed beast in motion, falling or twisting or screaming. The background is an imitation of loose-leaf paper, my representation of school, since that was what had me stressed out. At that time I was supposed to be thinking about applying to university and continuing to get good grades and all I could think about was that I felt I wanted to implode. All throughout my life I have felt certain pressures to behave and to do things a certain way – what's that quote about hearing that you can do anything and taking it to mean you have to do everything? – anyways, that's kind of where I was at then.

Since the time I made this piece, I have come to understand that the maturity I was seeking is not found by denying yourself the frustrations you feel as a human in order to act in a way that you think would please others, but exists in understanding that some anger is righteous and founded by pains or injustices, and that you can wield that anger within you to make change, to help people. You must understand – it's NOT about demonstrating more anger, for example by yelling at your colleagues or slamming doors; it's about giving your anger a seat at the table in your mind, because very often anger is something that helps protect us, in the same way that our nervous system tells us when we're hurt. I think this piece was probably the start of the acknowledgement of a great wellspring of emotions within that I had hardly ever dared to touch.

'Abstraction Series', 1/4 (2022)

'Abstraction Series', 2/4 (2022)

'Abstraction Series', 3/4 (2022)

'Abstraction Series', 4/4 (2022)

This was an exercise in abstraction as well, modeled after Pablo Picasso's series of eleven lithographs The Bulls. We were to start with a realistic drawing and then create a series of works, with each more abstract than the last. We were supposed to have six drawings in our series in total, but after my fourth drawing I felt my series was complete, and I didn't want to take it any further. To satisfy the assignment I created another two drawings that were relatively meaningless to me, but I haven't included them here. Unfortunately, it appears that some of the pale red lines have faded since I drew it.

Reading Log

Here I will add a few reviews of books that I enjoyed reading or felt were important stories to have heard. Naturally, there arises the issue of critical thinking: I don't support the views of every book I read, but I do find certain books valuable to have read for the themes they bring up, and to explore diverse ideologies and their roots.

The Evans Boy (? – June 7, 2025)

The Evans Boy: Halcyon Days (June 7 – June 11, 2025)

Yes to Life In Spite of Everything | Victor Frankl

This was the kind of book where I could only read a paragraph to couple of pages at a time, and then I would have to go lay down with my eyes closed and think about what I had read, what it meant or could mean in my life specifically. It was desperately refreshing to hear the value of human life stated so simply and earnestly, since a lot of the media and humour I had encountered recently takes a satirical approach.

Frankenstein | Mary Shelley

I remember reading this for English 30 over the summer and being immensely moved by it. I'll write some more about it later, I think.

Currently Reading

I'm reading a few books concurrently. I used to devour books so quickly and now it takes me ages to get through them. Oh well.

• '9-11' by Noam Chomsky;
• 'God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater' by Kurt Vonnegut. I've been reading this book for a while, and the main reason it's taken me a long time to get through it is that every paragraph is a bit of a zinger and I have to go have a chuckle and a ponder about it before I move on. I really admire Vonnegut's style of writing, witty and humane and satirical, never dull.
• 'Understanding Architecture' by Leland M. Roth. This is essentially an architecture textbook. One night, when I couldn't sleep, I cracked it open and began to read it, hoping it would be dry enough for me to be able to sleep, but I was almost immediately caught up by a discussion about the relation between form and function, and the industrial determinism movement, and just like that I had to close the book because I was malding about the influence of this movement on many of the places we interact with in the everyday. So now I am compelled to read it more seriously during the daylight hours.
• 'The Fountainhead' by Ayn Rand. I listened to the majority of this book as an audiobook from my public library over breakfasts during the school term, but it expired when I only had an hour left, so I'd like to grant it a more serious reading since I am curious about 'The Fountainhead' as an influential individualist work.

To Be Read

• 'The Canadian Army in Afghanistan' by Sean M. Maloney. The Government of Canada has provided the texts digitally. Here is a (supposedly) permanent link to the catalogue record: Link.
• please send me recommendations!

Film/TV

M*A*S*H (1972–1983)

As of the time I'm writing this, I've been watching this series for almost three years, since around 2021, and I only have two episodes left in the last season. I'm almost scared to watch them, because then it will mean that it's over. I'm not sure I have words to say about this show yet. I found it deeply human. Some of the most memorable episodes to me were in the 8th season, episodes 17, 18, and 19. I watched them on a long bus ride and they had me weeping. I'm not sure if I should rightly say, "yes, go watch just those three episodes", because it would be hard to understand how much depth these episodes added without having seen more of the show. M*A*S*H had everything from vapid slapstick comedy to discussions about the terrible human suffering of war, US imperialism, and bureaucracy. It described a variety of characters and experiences with dignity and humanity. I really have enjoyed this show.

Good Will Hunting (1997)

A History of Violence (2005)

Legends of the Fall (1994)

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Legally Blonde (2001)

The Good Place (2016–2020)

Daredevil (2015–2018)

Arcane (2021–)

This show was absolutely gorgeous. The style, the punchy animation, the sound design, the composition of shots, the colour – I really could go on forever. The character design, the voice talent... I also appreciated that I didn't need to know anything about League to enjoy the show. I didn't feel like I was missing anything. I really think that between the new animated Spider-verse and Arcane that western animation stands a chance to be revitalized beyond younger audiences.

Ratatouille (2007)

Cars (2006)