Bermuda - Selaah Stephenson, a 15-year-old Somersfield Academy student, has created a mural with a powerful message as part of her Personal Project, offering a 10-foot-image of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.
Created out of words, the mural depicts the story of Yousafzai, who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban for promoting education for girls in Pakistan. The Personal Project is a requirement for students in their final year of the Secondary Middle Years Programme [MYP] at Somersfield. The projects are chosen at the end of the M4 [senior one] year and continue through to February of their M5 [senior two] year. Students are assigned a Personal Project adviser who offers guidance during the entire process. “Our advisers suggested that we do something that we are passionate about so that we can find the process enjoyable, considering that the project takes place over several months,” said Stephenson.
“In order for me to enjoy the process, I decided to look toward my talent, the visual arts, and then used my passion to find a topic. I developed the question ‘how can today’s social illnesses be expressed artistically in order to evoke sensitivity?’ I then researched prominent figures throughout history and their contributions to the world.
“I had a list of people, including Bob Marley, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, and a few others. The one that connected to me most was Malala Yousafzai considering that she was shot by the Taliban at the age of 15 and she chose to unleash her inner strength in a society where the education of women is not really allowed, women are looked down upon, and seen as nothing more than bearers of children. “I had an original idea of Malala, but in order to make her the face of my project, I had to do more research. The general knowledge I had of her was that she was shot by the Taliban and at the age of 15 she was trying to fight for the right of girls to go to school.
“The result of the research provided the answer for me. I realized that I really had not focused on or paid attention to such significant issues that are still occurring in different areas of the world.
“I tried to reflect on why I do not pay attention to certain issues, and I came to realize that the way in which certain issues are publicized or talked about in the community, and in the media, has influenced what we believe and what we value as individuals.
“We have to be careful how we look at certain issues because oftentimes we allow the media to dictate how we feel, what we believe and what we think. Because of this large media influence, people are getting turned off and maybe this is why people are not paying attention to issues of importance and have biased perspectives.”
“I wanted this topic in particular - Malala’s story - to receive more attention. I thought that visual arts could be a way to communicate her story differently. I wanted to see if visual arts could evoke responsiveness within an audience. I chose a mural design because of its ability to reach a public audience.
“A mural tends to have an immediate effect on people and expresses how art can induce positive change. So I considered my personal interest and talent in an effort to drive my internal pursuit of change.
“At first most of my drafts were illegible because most of the words had to be placed a certain way in order to make up an image of Malala, so that was my challenge. But then when I had what I thought was my final design, and had meetings with my peers and advisors, that was the one thing that consistently came up, the fact that most of the design was illegible and Malala’s story was not clear.
“It was important that I made some words clear-the most important parts of her story. I revisited spacing within my design and decided that in place of her hair, I would use the most important details that reveal what happened to her. I felt this to be the e focal part because it is the only part that is legible.
“I did that on purpose - I made that part legible and everything around her illegible, but it still provides an image of her.
“I used this quote from her father which says, ‘Don’t ask me what I did, ask me what I did not do. I did not clip her wings and that is all.’ I feel that this captures the message that I myself am trying to convey from my mural, which is not to let confining pressures limit you from being yourself and getting that message out in the community and making a difference.”
Along with her school advisors, Stephenson also had to choose a supervisor to work with on the project. She looked to Tiago Garcia from Chewstick, who has recently worked with other local artists to create large-scale public art murals.
“We toured around Hamilton and he showed me existing public art projects,” said Stephenson. “I didn’t even know that so many were already here. Our tour inspired me to make a contribution and to become a part of the public art movement. He taught me that these art projects can have an effect on someone whether it be big or small.
“Just knowing that you have made a difference or have impacted someone’s life in some way, is so refreshing.”
The mural is currently located at Somersfield Academy, however Stephensen is still looking for a public location to display her piece and to send a message evoking change through the visual arts. “I know that this is only a starting point and I will develop from here. You have to believe in yourself first in order for it to happen and to make things come to fruition. “It is just a matter of trusting that your voice is strong enough and solutions will be able to find themselves from there.”