Dominion High School Senior Elmira Fazeli’s piece, “Isolating Peace” won Virginia’s 10th Congressional District Art Competition. Fazeli’s artwork will be on display at the U.S. Capital Cannon Tunnel alongside other artists’ work that won in their respective congressional districts.
“I thought I had placed in the top three,” Fazeli said. “When they announced I was Best in Show, I was really shocked, I was like ‘Woah, no way!’” Fazeli worked on her piece outside of school in the U.S. Arts Center and submitted her piece through Dominion High School.
Fazeli’s “Isolating Peace” was inspired by her grandmother’s experience leaving Ukraine due to the dangerous living conditions as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war. “She feels kind of isolated here, even though she’s in a state of peace, she feels very alone. This piece shows her in a glass bottle and far away in the distance, there’s a shattered sunflower flower pot, and the sunflower is a huge symbol of Ukraine,” Fazeli said.
“I thought it would be interesting to make a piece about her [love for] gardening, but at the same time, how it’s symbolic to her as someone who’s like a refugee and someone who’s from Ukraine,” Fazeli said.
