Serafina Delgass
Quiet
Weston High School, Weston, CT
10th Grade, 14 years old

We can choose whatever we want to define us, and it may be tempting to allow silence to not sully others’ notions of us; but without expression, we can’t achieve peace.

Savannah Girling
Beyond Perception
Keystone High School, Westport, CT
11th Grade, 16 years old

Identity is entirely different to every individual. It’s beyond definition, identity is simply how one sees themself, and how they choose to express that.

Margot Delany
Self Portrait in Charcoal
Greenwich High School, Greenwich CT
12th Grade, 18 yrs old

Identity is defined as “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is,” But I know it’s more than that. Identity not only defines who you are but also connects you with others and provides you with communities of people who you can rely on and who can rely on you. I think we need this now more than ever.

Sarah Price
The Effect of Phobias
Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT
12th grade, 17 years old

Having phobias and being forced to face them can have a painful effect on one’s sense of self. Having experiences of failure and extreme anxiety creates hopelessness and self-doubt.

McMillan Graham
Written in the Stars
Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT
12th grade, 18 years old

In my opinion, my identity has been heavily shaped by my family background and history, as it is due to my southern family that I possess my unusual first name, “McMillan.” In this piece, I painted a portrait of my younger self side-by-side with my namesake, Roberta McMillan, as she was an artist and I strongly believe her name is fit for me, as she was an artist just as I was.

Liza Saggese
And, Somehow, I’m Losing Myself Again
Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT
Grade 11, 16 years old

Identity is something that., yes, defines who we are as people, but is also something that can easily be lost and forgotten; it is one of the many struggles one may face in life.

Christine Song
Lasso Locks
Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT
11th Grade, 17 years old

Identity is how others perceive you and how you perceive yourself. Identity is the way you express yourself and the characteristics and parts that make up and define you.

Nicholas O’Brien
The Divisions of Solitude
Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT
11th Grade, 16 years old

We are all living in our own worlds. Whether you read that sentence with a positive or negative notion, it’s an important concept to all keep in mind regardless. The person sitting next to you is likely living a vastly different lifestyle and going through a lot of other things. We are all incredibly unique in our identity, and with that, it’s crucial that we all start living lives of acceptance and understanding, rather than ones of comparison.

Jane Stempien
Dual Nature
Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT
11th Grade, 16 years old

To me, identity is defined by its sense of duality – the entirety of our identity is formed by two, juxtaposed yet cohesive forces. It is the conflict between our sense of self, versus our sense of society, as well as our understanding of good versus evil.
$100

Trevor Perkins
Growing Old
Westhill High School, Stamford, CT
12th Grade, 17 years old

Identity means to me stopping every so often for all things and taking some time to enjoy the little things or what one would normally overlook in day to day life.

Lain Brewer
Home
Mamaroneck High School, Mamaroneck, NY
Grade 12, 17 years old

Identity is all the pieces that form a person’s unique self.

Tessa Moore
One Size
Staples High School, Westport, CT
12th Grade, Age 17

There have been times when I have felt that my identity is defined by my appearance and my dissatisfaction with it, and clothing brands that support harmful beauty standards often make this feeling worse. Many who cannot fit into these “one size fits all” brands feel that this makes them inherently less worthy or beautiful, when in reality our identity should be made up of our background, personality, and passions, and should be something that we value.

Ellie Weiner
Stretched Thin
Mamaroneck High School, Mamaroneck
12th Grade, 18 years old

Identity is fluid- there is the identity that we share with the world, and the one which we must grapple with internally. To know who we are, we must acknowledge the presence of both and allow there to be room for each facet of self.

Jake Floch
Laisser Aller
Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT
11th Grade, 16 years old

People use identities to attempt to define a person. But nobody can confine a whole person within language’s restrictions.

Ami Goble
Sejin Shiki
Harrison High School, Harrison, NY
11th grade, 16 years old

Personal identity to me is impacted heavily through age and maturity. As we grow older we become able to fully uncover and accept our true identities.

Sofia Dillabough
Italy, 1940s (After Richard Avedon)
Fairfield Ludlowe High School, Fairfield, CT
10th Grade, 16 years old

A time, a place, and a culture is a part of who we are. Italy in the 1940’s is in one sense history, but continues to live through my family and me to this day.

Benjamin Fertig
The “I’m Ivy” Fashion Collection
Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT
12th Grade, 18 years old

Identity transcends gender specific constraints allowing us to wordlessly project our self-image in a variety of ways such as wearing clothing that adapts to a variety of body types which tells a different story based on how it forms and fits the person wearing it.

Ariella SS Delgass
Fembot Liberation
Cedarhurst School, Hamden, CT
11th Grade, 16 years old

Identity is a set of themes pushed on you by the world that are meant to be shed in order to reach your true amorphous self.
$15

Abby Seeberger
Feelings
King School, Stamford, CT
10th Grade, 15 years old

To me, your identity is how you fit into the world. Having your own identity or specific thing that makes you different from others is what makes the world a better, more interesting place.

Mimi Casey
Dimming
Staples High School, Westport, CT
12th Grade, 17 years old

For me, identity has meant contending with circumstances good or bad. In my senior year, most of us have found ourselves changed, for better or worse, by shared burnout during the college application process.

Scarlett Sladek
Open Up The Gates of Hell and Roll Me Through
Staples High School, Westport, CT
12th Grade, 17 years old

To me, identity means the parts of myself that have shaped my worldview, and I believe showing off those parts of me is important.

Natalia Sierra-Vettorazzi
I Am Happy.
Academy of Information Technology & Engineering, Stamford, CT
10th Grade, 15 years old

To me, identity is just constant questions and thoughts about myself, that blur the lines of who I really am.
$125

Ella Ryb
Reaching
Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT
10th Grade, 15 years old

Identity to me means growing up and having to find your own way. The dark waters represent the struggles that one may have to go through to find oneself but the early blooms give hope.

Dina Lacugna
Adventurer
Fairfield Warde High School, Fairfield, CT
11th Grade, 16 years old

Identity is like a prism that reflects in nuanced ways depending where and how the light shines on it. It is a unified core of who you are in all your beliefs, qualities, communities and associations, and yet it reveals its presence in different ways in different environments.

Julia Petro
An Idea of Identity
Staples High School, Westport, CT
11th Grade, 16 years old

To me, identity is how people see and represent themselves, which can be shown in so many diverse and beautiful ways.

Olivia Liu
Cross-Cultural Contamination
Scarsdale High School, Scarsdale, NY
11th Grade, 16 years old

Every action we take contributes to our identity; it is the only facet of the world where we have the most control from birth to death. Although comprised of both external labels and personal decisions, it is the thing that entire lifetimes are devoted to molding and the source from which all creation stems.

Amber Peart
A Hidden Queen
Academy of Information Technology & Engineering, Stamford, CT
12th Grade, 17 years old

Identity is who you are, how people view you and how you portray yourself to others. There is only one you!
$20

Avery Morawa
Transformation
New Canaan High School, New Canaan, CT
11th grade, 16 years old

To me, identity is who you are and how you view the world. Your identity is shaped by your experiences, your memories, and society.

Emran Moradi
Aramish (Farsi, can be translated as peace of mind or calmness; tranquility)
Fairfield Country Day School, Fairfield, CT
9th Grade, 15 years old

Afghan artists search for aramish, or peace of mind, through their art. As an Afghan artist, I seek to move through memories of my past and express emotions by drawing the beauty found in nature.

I chose to paint a solitary tree in autumn for two reasons. First, climate change is a threat to our future and one way to combat climate change is by planting trees. Their growth is a symbol of hope. We need to plant trees in every corner of our planet: deep in the inner cities, in every small town, in every large country, high in the mountains, and on the edges of the water. As shown here, a tree can grow anywhere. In this way, the tree in this painting represents me and my future. When I left Afghanistan in September I felt sad, overwhelmed, and homesick. But there is always a seed of hope even if it seems there is nothing else, and this was true for me. This fall in Connecticut I put down new roots and grew in new ways. I spread my branches to the sky.
$200

Hashima Moradi
Water in Winter
Marvelwood School, Kent, CT
9th Grade, 17 years old

Art is part of my identity, and a love of art has traveled with me from Kabul to America. Here I am exploring a new medium of art through photography.
$200

Angelea Nicaj
Aversion of the Limelight
Harrison High School, Harrison, NY
11th grade, 16 years old

Dread arises from my unwillingness to indulge others in my identity’s entirety. In its forced convergence, I’m subjected to unwanted perceptions.

Brooke Arnold
Inner Strength
Wethersfield High School, Wethersfield, CT
Grade 12, 17 years old

I think the way someone portrays themselves to everyone around them is a way of showing your identity. The way I like to portray myself is being bold and confident.

Tea Tola
Vicious Cycle
Wethersfield High School, Wethersfield, CT
12th Grade,18 years old

Nothing else can dictate your actions… or can it.

Katie Huang
Fragments of Us
Greenwich High School, Old Greenwich, CT
11th Grade, 16 years old

Identity, essential to our individuality, is the encapsulation of past, present, and future. Shaped by our experiences, our own identities are often intertwined with other figures in our lives.
$150

Jocelyn Mazo
The Eyes are the Window to Your Soul
Mamaroneck High School, Mamaroneck , NY
11th grade, 16 years old

To me, identity means a person being identified as who they are and how they want to be as a person.
$200

Briona Collins
Themself
Mamaroneck High School, Mamaroneck, NY
10th Grade, 15 years old

Am I pretty now for some reason I find myself lost in what you think of me and too confused to choose who I should be” – Will Wood I/Me/Myself/
Identity is exploring new parts of you and how you express yourself. Remembering where you came from and looking at you now.
$20

Michaela Gurliacci
Looking at You, Looking at Me
Westhill High School, Stamford, CT
12th Grade, 17 years old

Identity can be anything the person wants it to be, whether it be a style, personality or physical features identity is shown differently in every person you meet. My identity is an extension of me, the best parts of me on display for the world to view.

Zachary Berenbaum
CC Sabathia
New Rochelle High School, New Rochelle, NY
10th Grade, 15 years old

CC Sabathia, a left-handed pitcher like me, has helped shape my identity as a baseball pitcher.
His good values, strong work ethic and teamwork have enabled me to create my sense of self.
$500

Rachel Coplan
Hazy Blue
Scarsdale High School, Scarsdale, NY
10th Grade, 15 years old

Identity is a sense of belonging, it is knowing and upholding your place and purpose in the world. It can be hazy and unclear to find reason in your own existence.

Nina Paolini-Rota
(Don’t) Look At Me
Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, Stamford, CT
11th Grade, 16 years old

Identity is constantly evolving for everyone, it is the accumulation of every experience we have ever had. I fear facing my own identity because it IS change, and change is scary.

Eloise Foster
Contemplation
Greens Farms Academy, Westport, CT
11th Grade, 17 years old

To me, identity means how I see and feel about myself. I think that an important part of my identity is how in touch I am with my emotions, whether I choose to embrace them or push them away.

Tanneil Powell
Doja Cat
Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, Stamford, CT
11th grade, 17 years old

Identity to me is how I present myself. It is how I show people who I am.

Zana Morina
Never Ending Road
Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, Stamford, CT
11th grade,16 years old

The road that doesn’t seem to end.

Kadisha Calderon
The Stairs To The Unknown
Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, Stamford, CT
11 Grade, 17 years old

Taking chances because you don’t know where you’ll end up at.

Shannon Martin
I Don’t Understand This
Greens Farms Academy, Westport, CT
10th Grade, 15 years old

To me, Identity means the way you represent yourself to other people or at different places.

Nicole Razhanskiy
Sea Turtle
Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, Stamford, CT
11th Grade, 16 years old

Identity is a fulfilling feeling about yourself. This can be a word, place, feeling which makes you feel at home. For me, nature and the ocean is a big part of my life and a major part of my identity, including animal life that exists along us in this world.

Aaron Oro
Time Capsule
Harrison High School, Harrison, NY
12th grade, 17 years old

Identity allows the world to truly see the real you. No matter how far we distance ourselves, we will always remember one another.
$50

Alexandra Konigsberg
My Colorful Self Portrait
Harrison High School, Harrison NY
10th Grade, 16 years old

It’s something that’s within me. It makes us different from other people and it doesn’t have to be based on appearance, it is your personality that determines who you are and how you are unique.”
$100

Gabriela Majewska
You Silly Child
Mamaroneck High School, Mamaroneck, NY
12 Grade, 18 years old

Identity is how you define yourself and how you wish the world to perceive you. It gives you a voice and a way to express yourself no matter what you’re going through.

Kristine Vasquez
Symptom of the Universe
Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, Stamford, CT
$250

Sonia Charmoy
The True Sun
Joel Barlow High School, Redding, CT
11th Grade, 17 years old

Identity to me is the essence of who we are as a person. The good and the bad but we are all truly suns. We have the power to shine our light on everyone else and that is what my piece shows.

Identity. How I express myself and define who I am and how I see the world. I am creative and original and often choose to express myself through my love of shoes. Painting sneakers, I know I have chosen the perfect canvas for exhibiting my identity. Despite constantly trying to stand confidently in my shoes (no pun intended), I sometimes opt not to stand out and prefer a more subdued position in a crowd. Camouflage helps one disguise and hide their identity, and is often used as a form of protection. Black lights help reveal what the human eye cannot see. Exposed to blacklight, Hide and Seek creatively exposes my true identity: I will never let my head down, unless of course, to admire my shoes. Artist takes requests for custom commissions. Visit @Lacedbylogan on Instagram!