Pretty Piggy

This reduction block print is inspired by the idiom "putting lipstick on a pig", which represents the futile effort of making something inherently ugly or flawed look better through superficial/cosmetic changes. Despite the external improvements, the underlying issue remains unchanged, "it's still a pig".

In a way, this piece also connects to my progress on self love, because i know i may not be as conventionally attractive but i enjoy the enhancement of my features and self expression through makeup.

Isabel Ramsay ‘27

Girl

i’m part of a band of girls with cheeks puffy from screaming until red-faced
whose moms worry they’re weird, irregular, swimming the wrong direction
who buy thrift store jewelry sealed in plastic bags and line their lips electric pink
we’ve taught ourselves to dance even with arms bitten by chains and legs locked into knots

we string purple pony beads and star-shaped plastic charms onto sewing thread
call them friendship bracelets and tie them around each other’s wrists
we spit out wet curse words like they’re the wooden pits of stone fruit
that dribble sticky, clear syrup down our chins and onto tank tops stained all over

we’re not scared for our classmates to see us crying, dabbing dry tissue under our eyelids
we shout with meter and verse that imprint themselves into song lyrics
our teeth grind down on yesterday’s top news headlines and letters to the city’s mayor
his office rarely respond, but we write to him anyway

i’m with the girls who make you slackjawed with their wide-open mouths
who steep their words bitter with used tea bags
until every syllable bubbles out of the kettle’s rusted spout
and the metal pot lets out a deafening screech

Brooke Yang ‘26

This piece celebrates my puppy's birthday and showcases his gentle, adorable, and sweet self, disproving the stereotype(s) that bulldogs and pitbulls are "aggressive" and "dangerous/scary".

I experimented with the Impasto art style for the first time, that consists of using mediums such as modeling paste to create textures and add a 3D affect/pop.