Jasmine Myat Aung

Theme: Making a difference that endures across time

Merit, School Category, 2024

Artist statement:

My artwork delves into the impact of organ donation and its medium-term effects. A young girl, bawling her eyes out, symbolises the anguish of losing her kidney, believing she would never live like a normal girl again. The portable kidney dialysis machine next to her is a stark reminder of her despair. The girl is using her hand to clutch on to her waist, where her kidney was located, clearly missing it.

However, reflected in the shimmering surface of the pond, a radiant vision emerges - the same girl, now smiling, after having received a life-changing kidney transplant. The portable kidney dialysis machine is not there. The juxtaposition of the girl and her reflection invites viewers to contemplate the difference an organ donation can make in the medium-term. The “ripple effect” is used as the metaphor, as the girl in the water is surrounded by ripples, and has been the recipient of a kidney transplant. With a kidney transplant, she turned happier, and is jubilantly stretching her hand out to help.

The young girl is located in the garden, a place full of life. An ethereal glow frames the canvas, also acting as a beacon of light. Had the young girl opened her eyes, she could have seen all the hope that surrounded her, and not lost it.

Overall, “Reflections of Hope” envisions the medium-term impact of an organ transplant, and how people in need of an organ need not lose hope.

About the Artist

Jasmine Myat Aung, 13
Edgefield Secondary School