Title of Art Work: A Lamb to Slaughter by Iris Lee

This is, by far, one of the great first days of school ever, my former IB student, Iris Lee, came back and gave me this wonderful piece of art that she composed last year as a gift. I would like to introduce her artwork and her messages to the wider audience.  Please enjoy!

Title of Art Work: A Lamb to Slaughter

Year: April 2014

Artist: Iris Lee (18)

My piece, "A Lamb to Slaughter", is one of my more personal and profound piece of work in my IB Art collection, under the theme of "Cultural Awareness". As I was researching differences in mannerism and customs within different countries, I stumbled upon the culture of the state of Rajasthan in India. I began to read news articles and journalism reports of the issue of child marriages. It has been a well-known tradition and custom of Rajasthan and still commonly continues today. However, the modern age ideal for marriage has changed and citizens have a contrary view on whether or not to continue this tradition or to completely stop it. Not to mention, the legality issues that ensue upon this practice. It deeply impacted me--shocked me, seeing how children are forced into marriage, are forced to become adults in taking responsibilities that they are not capable of handling, and for the sake of either (or both) keeping the lineage of their family and dowries. In most cases, the children are unhappy and are assaulted all for the sake of parental approval. The younger the children, the sadder the cases are for me. 

The subject of my painting is a young female Rajasthani, who is elaborately dressed up, adorned with jewelry and primped up with make-up. She holds a form of a child but her face fools the society that she indeed is a woman. The dark, twisted hands that surround her represent the societal pressures, the greed of parents and the harm that approach her and are ready to sacrifice her in order to satisfy their own gain. This piece is personal because it holds my opinionated view on the matter. I hope that my work may be able to expose global issues that are happening today to those that are unbeknownst to them.