FVRL Teen Imagine Contest Winners 2023

TEEN IMAGINE TEEN IMAGINE

IT CAN BE ANYTHING YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO.

WINNERS & RUNNER-UPS WINNERS & RUNNER-UPS

Welcome,

Fraser Valley Regional Library is pleased to present our 2023 Teen Imagine Contest winners. We had over 179 entries in 2023, and selecting our winners was difficult, as always. We hope you’ll agree that these works are impressive. Enjoy admiring, watching, reading, and listening to this collection of winners!

Background

Starting in 2015, this annual contest invites Fraser Valley teens to submit any and every create piece they're proud to share Every year we ' re impressed by the creativity and talent of our teen community.

CONTENTS

ENDEAVOURS WITH MUSIC GUMMIES

THE DEVIL’S HOUR: A SHORT STORY

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY TINY HOUSE

FEELS LIKE HOME

MOTHER NATURE’S SUFFOCATION

GLIMPSE

HAPPY NEW YEAR

GARDEN DRESS

SHADOW VINE

COTTAGE IN A COLOURFUL FOREST

STOENBEAR

THANK YOU EVERYONE

ENDEAVORS WITH MUSIC

Each painting gives a different outlook on my complicated relationship with music I use music to cope with difficult situations while unfortunately using it to fuel my unhealthy habits I expressed all these ideas with gouache, digital art, and much more.

GrandPrizeWinner

Carla M | 17 years old White Rock Library

GUMMIES

Gummies is a manifestation of my childhood self, one attempt at exploring the gap between me, right now, and me, still encased in the sugary residue of childhood The gummies depicted are traditional Taiwanese candies, often found in tiny grocery shops tucked away into neighbourhoods. My cousins, my sister, and I are regulars at ours; it was heaven to us. Filled with cool, carbonated drinks, sweets wrapped in pink paper, candies sold by the piece. Once, we walked there three times in a day, waiting for the uncle who owned the store to wake up from his midday nap. We were drawn to that place like gum to sidewalk, like a hoarder to their trinkets. Gummies is fifth grade me, pressed into the bubbling package of life, and Gummies is me, right now, with a little piece of my mind forever preserved between the strawberry and orange flavoured sweets.

GrandPrizeWinner

Zoe C. | 17 years old

City of Langley Library

THE DEVIL’S HOUR: A SHORT STORY

GrandPrizeWinner

Natalia P. | 14 years old Tsawwassen Library

I think I know why the Devil’s Hour is called what it is.

It’s a soft-edged sort of time, sitting on your kitchen counter with a cup of tea in your hands. The lights are off, darkness creeping in the corners; dark enough to see out the window, where the trees sway to a phantom wind

It’s a time of quiet, and occasionally a time of regret

The silence makes you think.

It’s the time when our inner demons escape from their skeletal cage and dare breathe this midnight air. Their shadowy claws wrap around your ribs and two age-old eyes appear where your heart should be.

It used to be there, golden and alive

You barely remember what it was like before it went to ash

And ever so slowly, the demons emerge from your tangled, broken, mess of a self.

For a moment, they stare at you rather reproachfully (even though they have been begging for this since the beginning).

They whisper, Why, why have you let us go?

You are tempted to take them back, to fist your hands around them and press them back into the bloody slivers of space between your lungs where they’ve been tucked away for far too long

You ache to hide them in the crumbling chambers of your heart, for it is a desert. The kind where nothing lives. The kind where life is a choked whisper in a lightning storm.

But a taste of freedom, the barest brush of freedom, will never not lead to hunger. It’s a burning, ravenous, desperate sort of hunger.

The fiery kind of wanting

You reach out, and you snatch at them (brightness bounces off your hands, making them translucent). But these are demons from the past. These can no longer be helped. Your light-dipped fingers pass through the air.

You are insignificant at this moment, just like the demons, for the only thing trapped in this kitchen is memory.

Raw Bloody Unchangeable.

You sigh, maybe defeatedly (you are not sure yet) and with that ancient breath comes a veil of silver, the last of the demons leaving you.

They stare at you.

You stare back

What do I do now?

Your voice is weak. Fraying around the edges, like the sleeves of a sweater that was loved a little too much. Your kitchen feels suddenly too small for all these memories. It’s too real, this time, neither early nor late

You and your demons watch each other.

Washed in starlight, you whisper, Please leave.

The demons might have smiled, reminiscent of a lost soulmate’s smirk. One shakes its dark head, crowned in quicksilver flashbacks. There’s a laugh like fresh snow, a winter’s day from the past

We are forever, my love

You don’t want them You want to burn them You want to watch them die, shrivel and torment you no longer. You just want them gone.

You find something like pity in their fading eyes.

We’re just making space for the next ones, they say.

The next mistakes, the next broken promises, the next inevitable sadnesses.

A slim and shadowed hand reaches out and pierces your torn-open chest, where all your secrets are on display Just you and your demons The hand pulls back, a dusting of your heart’s ash trailing through the air in its wake

There’s an ember, they whisper, there is always an ember left in the ashes And they

d i s a p p e a r.

And lightness. They are gone

But, oh no, the memory remains, ragged as always, agonizing as always All your mistakes remembered.

Remembered. Remembered. Remembered.

And suddenly . . . a heartbeat. It’s steady. Promising. Hopeful. It’s alive

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY TINY HOUSE

This house is designed for a family of three to live in a unique, sustainable, and affordable small house. These types of tiny houses will be in big demand in the future due to increasing housing prices. My design includes using sustainable materials, renewable energy (solar panels), and a condensed floor plan. All these features make this design environmentally friendly without lowering quality of life for people living in tiny houses.

Yuxin

Maple Ridge Public Library

GrandPrizeWinner

Z. | 13 years old

FEELS LIKE HOME

Artist statement: This barn resembles one I used to live near, It’s located in the Nicola Valley. Where it stands nestled between some beautiful rolling hills, that barn is where I would play, learn and occasionally work. So it holds a special place in my heart. This sculpture was made to show those feelings I have about it.

Description: (multi-media) acrylic paint on wood panel (the backdrop), fused glass (the barn), and the base is up-cycled barn wood Size: 13”x 8”x 4”

Runner-up

Brooklyn D. | 12 years old Chilliwack Library

MOTHER NATURE’S SUFFOCATION

This ceramic sculpture alerts the consequences of pollution: as you can see, our Mother Nature's head lies, painfully gagging on the overwhelming amount of garbage. The sculptured head is entirely made of clay, soil and water. After its first heating, it is then glazed with minerals for the colour. This purely natural artwork creates a jarring dissonance with the toxic, artificial plastic garbage pieces. This juxtaposition reveals that our creations ultimately contribute to our own destruction as mother nature chokes to her demise. With such agony in her expression, she begs for us to take action and foreshadows the unfortunate diminishment of nature Indeed, it is our own planet that is dying and it is our own responsibility to revive it With the intricate fragility of the roots and flowers, I expressed the delicate balance of the ecosystem and its vulnerability to human mistreatment Moreover, by applying multiple layers of glazes, I illuminated the depths of humanity’s relationship with nature through various uses of colours

Runner-up

Clary L. | 18 years old City of Langley Library

GLIMPSE

Using acrylic paints, I had concluded that I wanted to paint a portrait, but not just any portrait a portrait that could capture emotion through colours and simplicity. The reference picture of the woman reminded me of a snapshot in time, a delicate, frozen fracture in the past that could be only hopefully grasped through fleeting memories and dreams. I wanted to portray this in my style by evoking the audience’s interpretation of the woman through soft blending, semi-realism, and vibrant colours. I put care into every single brush stroke, intending to paint a figure that felt like an old memoir of the past. For me, art is a journey A journey that takes love and healing to accomplish A journey where every single colour, decision, or even the level of water in your bucket determines your very next move It is about chasing emotions through a dark, dreary railway to get to the heart of the mine, where the bright, glistening crystals are This painting not only brightened my knowledge of painting portraits but allowed me to experience the journey of creating this artwork

Runner-up

Sabrina BV. | 14 years old Walnut Grove Library

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Traditional Taiwanese food for Lunar New Year, painted with longing and sweet memories. Digital.

Runner-up

Celine C | 17 years old City of Langley Library

GARDEN DRESS

Kallista designed and sewed this dress. It is made entirely out of thrift store bed sheets.

Runner-up

Kallista W | 17 years old Abbotsford Community Library

SHADOW VINE

A short story written and illustrated by Camdyn McLaughlin about a young witch who needs to learn to face her fears of flying in order to save one of the library's friendly ghosts. For more of my work check out my Etsy shop Craftstudiobycam where I make and sell stickers!

Runner-up

Camdyn M. | 16 years old Terry Fox Library

COTTAGE IN A COLOURFUL FOREST

This is a hand-coloured drawing that I made of a colourfully-designed forest with a small cottage that lies in the middle. All I used were oil-based pencil crayons, a white gel pen for small designs, and my art skills to create this masterpiece.

Runner-up

Olivia H. | 13 years old

George Mackie Library

STOENBEAR

This is a fantasy creature made with polymer clay Colour detail was added using ground chalk and a soft paintbrush The model is two inches high and three and a half inches long Stoenbears are dangerous predators of fauns and can run at incredible speeds. The moss on its back helps it to blend into the green landscape, and its impenetrable stone hide makes it almost impossible to kill. The sharp claws and yellow fangs don't help the fauns' survival... Inspired by a story I have been writing.

Runner-up

Ella L. | 13 years old Sardis Library

TEEN IMAGINE

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR PARTICIPATING!

WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR CREATIVITY IN 2024.

Fraser Valley Regional Library is the largest public library system in British Columbia, with 25 community libraries serving almost 810,000 people in its service area. Established in 1930, it is funded with taxes raised in the communities it serves, plus a Government of BC operating grant. The governing board consists of elected officials representing 15 member municipalities and regional districts. With its mission of “opening minds, enabling dreams,” FVRL plays a prominent role in the communities throughout the Fraser Valley.