Room 1
About the Artist
The White Rose
by Gracie Miel Mendoza
USING symbolism wherein a white rose represents purity, Mendoza presents her take on the chosen theme that is sexual awareness in the female population – the dystopian concept against sex education.
In this exhibit, Mendoza’s series of photographs are both in color and in black and white that also dives into the latter color combination’s metaphoric meaning.
The colored photos feature a girl in white and styled imitating the Victorian era style, holding and subtly caressing the white rose against the bright red background.
The black and white photos diverts the lookers attention to the white rose as the main subject: the girl trying to distance the rose from being snatched on the first, and a collage of two roses reaching into each other in an almost kissing manner.
Despite all menacing actions and gestures in the photographs, the rose maintains its original pristine color and purity. Varying interpretations are acknowledged as all arts the same are evaluated, although the artist’s intention can clearly be seen and unwavering.
Gracie Miel F. Mendoza’s interest in photography first sparked when she was in 4th grade and first joined a photojournalism competition representing her then school Amadeo Elementary School. Since then, she has been active as a photojournalist even when she transferred to Amadeo National High School for Junior High. This experience led to her constant improvement in the field as well as finding her own style apart from the standards of photojournalism. Mendoza leans more towards portrait photography and braves daring concepts that she showcased both in her work for this art exhibition.
Mendoza, also known socially as Miles, is currently in her first senior year of high school at Tagaytay City Science National High School - Integrated Senior High School under the Arts and Design Track, specializing in Photography and Dance. She served as a data analyst and participated on the web design of the “Rooms of Dystopia: The Online Art Gallery” exhibit.
