El perdido

Refran: "He's lost walking through the street,  

trying to find something to eat"

Card Description: For my Loteria Card I wanted to share my thoughts on homelessness.  I chose homelessness as a subject matter because it’s an increasing problem in our community, affecting adults and even whole families.  The colors in the piece represent the sad, overwhelming stress of living in poverty with hope, or no one to ask for help.  The images in the piece represent the effects of homelessness and how the people that are suffering in poverty feel.  For me personally, this card represents the people, adults and even families, who go through the struggle to get back up again, after they’ve fallen into homelessness because they couldn’t pay rent or even sustain themselves.  I want the audience to see how much people suffer when they go through this, and even in the midst of it all, all they ask is for a little hope to have a good life again.

Student Biography: My name is Vanessa Zayas and I am a senior at Santa Maria High School. I live in Santa Maria, California with my parents and 2 younger sisters. My family is from Oaxaca, Mexico. In my Loteria card, I chose to represent homelessness. What inspired me to draw my Loteria card was seeing the increasing amount of homeless people who are in the Santa Barbara County. Many times, they’re homeless because they didn’t have money to pay their next rent, or they feel helpless. I wanted to bring awareness on how many of them may feel, and that we can help them by giving them a second opportunity. The artistic process was sad since I had to research images and articles regarding homelessness, and it was very heartbreaking reading why people live in poverty, leading them to suffer from a mental illness or addiction. Life after high school will be going to a 4-year university and majoring in criminal justice.