Jasmine Myat Aung

Theme: Organic Perspectives

Artist statement:

A donated heart personified into a youthful human figure rides a bicycle with the spirit of their late owner, the donor, next to him. The heart, more than just a donated organ, is a continuation of a person’s life, memory, and humanity through one another. As it moves forward, the heart experiences its surroundings as part of a living landscape shaped by its own rhythm, the path ahead is an ECG line, transforming its pulse into the terrain it travels across. The bicycle is constructed from human bones, reflecting the heart’s peaceful perception of the recipient’s inner structure as its most vulnerable framework that supports their very existence. The spirit of its donor appears with a single wing. This figure is both a memory and a guide like a lingering presence that reminds us that a part of the donor will always stay within the recipient. Despite being surrounded by red spider lilies associated with death and farewell, the donor is not perceived with the least bit of resentment, but with enthusiasm and gleefulness, suggesting that they were happy to donate the organ as they cheer their donated heart on and the recipient need not feel guilty. Doves match the donor’s wing colour as they appear as drifting fragments of the donor’s presence, signifying peace and calm rather than a violent and tragic passing. The sunset sky becomes a shifting threshold between endings and continuation, like a bittersweet reality that one life has ended so another could keep moving. In the sky, the cloud forms the silhouette of a heart organ through negative space, like the world itself reflects the heart’s existence back to it. Behind its movements, daffodils (representing renewal after winter) and scorpion grasses (also known as forget-me-nots) bloom in its wake. Through this artwork, not only do I want to imagine the heart as a sentient being but I want to send a message to all reframing the idea of organ donation as quiet encouragement and not loss, where the donor remains present in spirit, celebrating and supporting the continuation of life through another heartbeat.

About the Artist

Jasmine Myat Aung, 15
Edgefield Secondary School