The following is an editorial written by Seehafer News Reporter Ryan Brahm.
I was at Valders High School earlier this week to cover a story about the student group Sources of Strength giving a donation to Prevent Suicide Manitowoc County. I was met at the District office by Alison Taylor, who is the adult leader for the group. While she was taking me back to her room, my eyes were drawn to the stunning student art on display in the lobby. The sheer talent of the students was astonishing to me, but one piece grabbed my attention. This one.
I could tell there was a lot to unpack with the piece, so I asked Alison if it would be possible to speak with its creator. She used her superpowers to get ahold of MaKenna Krimm, and her art teacher Tim Woodcock.
Mr. Woodcock said that they used to display student art in the cafeteria but moved it to the lobby when they didn’t have enough room. He thanked Dr. Debra Hunt, the School District Superintendent, as she was “very accommodating” to let him pick out what all he needed to properly display the stunning works of art created by the students.
Now, about that artwork.
There are several striking aspects to MaKenna’s work. The first thing I thought about when I saw it was that there had to be a link to mental health, which is a topic very near and dear to me. When I asked her about it, MaKenna did confirm that her theme for the year was mental health.
“Mental health is not talked about enough when it comes to art, and I don’t see really see much art portraying mental health,” she told me.
She said that this specific piece, which was made entirely with acrylic, is about OCD, which MaKenna said can be portrayed in many different ways.
“When I think of OCD, what comes to mind is the repetitiveness, and how you can’t get out of this habit,” she explained. “The habit of my art was him washing his hands over and over. All those checkmarks was how many times he washed his hands. You can see he is looking at you in both the mirror and actually in person, so he is actually paranoid with it too.”
MaKenna was very forthcoming with me, as she admitted that she has suffered from OCD as well, which is part of the reason she chose that as the subject of her piece. While she did not suffer from this specific style of OCD, she said it was “along those lines.”
MaKenna is a senior at Valders, and she said that the next step in her life will be attending Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, where she plans on working toward becoming a paramedic.
