Stuck In Limbo: A Junior Experimental Project by Justin Walker (2013)

I explored the feeling of helplessness you get when you are lonely. The idea I wanted to get across was that when you are feeling lonely, you also feel incredibly helpless because you have no one to talk about your problems or feelings, which drives you further into a hole of loneliness and despair. The reason I chose this is not as sad as it might seem - it’s not because I’m extremely depressed and lonely, but because since my sister left to college I haven’t had anyone to talk to besides my own parents. I miss talking to my sister about video games, movies, tv shows and so on. I also sometimes feel helpless as a result of that, because I can no longer ask my sister questions for help on projects, homework, or other academic related questions which she could answer from her own personal experience.

For my art piece I decided to use Adobe Illustrator. The nameless boy you see in my art piece who is placed in front of the sun in the background is no more than than a simple cartoon silhouette and is used to represent anyone who could be in the type of situation where they are lonely and helpless. He is reaching up to a white apple, which represents that chance of finding someone or something that can bring you out of that hole of loneliness. Although he is unable to grab the apple because of his height disadvantage, no is there to boost him up to grab that apple, he is helpless in that way.