Photos: Past Heroin and Opioid Art Exhibition Entries

The Drug Enforcement Administration, New Jersey Division and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, in conjunction with the Partnership for a DrugFree New Jersey, The Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse along with the Ammon Foundation hosted the 4^th Annual Heroin and Opioid Art Exhibition highlighting heroin and opioid abuse, addiction and recovery earlier this year.

Learn more about the exhibition.

Check out a few entries from previous years below.

"Cut Seams" by Brent Hartwell (2018)

Artist statement: My painting is based on heroin abuse present in our American culture as a result of the ongoing addiction crisis. The drug drains its host and leaves them looking depraved which is the overall purpose of the malnourished face I have made a self portrait of as this is a theme that very near to myself. My family has struggled firsthand with addiction and it not only left the user depraved but the rest of our family including myself, because addiction does not just affect the user, but everyone close to them as well.

"Malady" by Chris Ogar (2018)

Artist statement: The sinister grip that rips us from hope of better days evicts us from our reality. Clouding us just enough for us to devalue our values. Corrupting our morals till we become immoral, abandoning our true self, giving us a false sense of comfort that is uncomfortable and most times unbearable. By then it being too late... driven so low below the rest of those around us that we feel we could do nothing except continue to dig and dig. Deeper into the emptiness that we found using brings. Feelings that we could never resurrect something good within us ever again.

"Submissive" by Debbie Rappaport-Pine (2018)

Artist statement: Behind the door is a girl, a young woman...stuck, maturity not able to be actualized. She submits all of herself dutifully, compulsively to the drug...to the addiction. It draws her in. The more she submits, the more she becomes lost to the world, but most of all to herself. She wears her vulnerability like a cloak along with her deep sadness as she passes through all of the effects of the drug and becomes more affected. There are so many layers. The pain is so great, but the compulsion is greater. She has fallen deeper into herself. Is the door forever shut? It feels like it. Maybe there is a key to open the door. Does she have the only key? It is locked within her to be free? Can she/will she use the key? Does she know it exists?

"Heroin the Puppeteer" by Fatou Ridgird (2018)

Artist statement: Heroin is highly addictive and very dangerous. This is mostly due to how fast a user’s tolerance to the drug can become. A user once tolerated to heroin may need higher doses to reach their “high” or may need to use the substance more frequently. Heroin enters the brain very rapidly and releases chemicals such as endorphins and dopamine that can make the user feel a sense of well-being and euphoria. The brain links heroin to the activation of these chemicals and eventually the user becomes addicted and is unable to function without the drug. This brings me to my piece “Heroin the Puppeteer.” Addicted heroin users no longer feel like themselves because their brain cannot produce natural amounts of dopamine on their own. This results in the user relying heavily on heroin to make themselves feel better, ultimately resulting in heroin manipulating and controlling the user. Heroin abuse can also lead to death which is why the figure on the left is moving towards the edge of the platform by the hands of the substance. Heroin is a dangerous problem that can take over someone’s life .

"Resting In Pieces" by Jennifer Nicole (2018)

Artist statement: She grew up in a world of chaos and confusion. When she became a teenager she found that alcohol and drugs gave her a feeling of calm, happiness and freedom she never knew. As a young adult this once happy soul found a new kind of peace and happiness. Another kind of drug. One she couldn’t live with out. After all of her poor choices that lead her here. Heroine. Stopping all the pain caused by other people and herself. Her world is falling to pieces around her. She lives to rest. She lives to escape. Hopefully one she will chose to really live. And not live to die.

"Addiction is a Verb" by Jillian Rock (2018)

Artist statement: The word addiction is a noun that is defined as the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity. Addiction can be seen in many forms through a variety of lenses. This photo was taken to bring attention to the connections between addiction and homelessness, between what is determined to be lost and found, and who determines what is seen as a representation of it all; to see addiction as a verb.

"Heroin’s Kiss" by Laura Cain (2018)

Artist statement: “Heroin’s Kiss” depicts the devastating hold drugs can have over a person, leaving them prisoner to the substance. So often, in society, drugs are glorified as a means to escape the pressures of life. The flowers and soft color palette demonstrate this captivating lure of heroin and this idea of escaping. The woman is nude to show that she has completely stripped herself of all humanity and surrendered herself to the drug. However, the flowers are merely a disguise. The skull reveals the true intentions of the drug, alluding to inevitable death and destruction.

"Hopelessly Addicted" by Leslie LoSasso (2018)

Artist statement: The family member shown in the photograph was the light of my life when he was born 23 years ago. He grew to be a smart, handsome kid, sociable, able to connect with his peers and their parents also. He also grew with anger issues due to many family problems and a series of deaths of those close to him. It was the death of his mom that pushed him over the edge so to speak. Due to circumstances, he felt his life was hopeless. It was then that he started using heroin, which had become readily available and fairly inexpensive. He went to a few rehabs but his heart was not in recovery. He lived for that fix, that rush, that feeling of euphoria when the drug entered his body. His life became a nightmare for him and for those of us who were witness to it and lived it with him. We prayed for him, encouraged him, talked to him but to no avail. It got to the point where he would “fall out” as soon as he shot the heroin in. I would ask him how one second of rush could mean that much when he was passed out for hours. He had no answer other than to say it was worth it. After calling 911 a couple of times when this was happened, he asked me not to do that again —he didn’t want to get Narcan and lose his high. I just shook my head. The last time this happened, he didn’t wake up—he didn’t make it to his 23rd birthday. My heart grieves for him and countless others who are caught in this addiction. I am truly grateful that God chose to take him this time.

"$0.68" by Lora Marie Durr (2018)

Artist statement: I had minor surgery in 2017. I was prescribed, and urged to take, Oxycodone for the anticipated pain. I came home from the hospital, script in hand, took some Advil and went to sleep. I woke up, nervous about the anticipated “pain” and asked my partner to go fill my script. He didn’t think this was a great idea, but I convinced him I might need it to sleep. He does not share my last name, he does not share my address on his license, he does not share my insurance, he’s never been to my pharmacy prior to this day. For $0.68, with no questions asked, he was able to walk out of the pharmacy, with 40 pills in hand. I never took the pills, I stuck with Advil and ice. Tell me why I was urged to take these drugs? Tell my why he was able to pick them up with no questions? Tell me why life-saving drugs cost thousands of dollars and life-destroying drugs cost pennies? Tell me why I haven’t disposed of these pills?

"The Poison" by Luis Alves (2018)

Artist statement: I am a New Jersey based artist with a primary interest in photo collage, each work is a hand manipulated hybrid utilizing appropriated imagery from publications. The "Poison” collage diptych is a commentary on the economics and at times glamorization of the drug trade resulting in an altered state associated with substance misuse. I have juxtaposed contradictory images creating a nightmarish inner dialogue and conveying the natural world in turmoil. My art is characterized by pop culture and advertising influences as well as vibrant colors and bold compositions with the goal of exposing our fetishes, obsessions, strengths and weaknesses.

"Anguish" by Matt Albanese (2018)

Artist statement: When I initially painted Anguish, I didn't realize that this particular painting was going to represent so many important transformations in my life. Originally fueled by a relationship gone bad, it was going to mark an end, a new beginning, and the beginning of the end. It would be the start of a new style and energy that I would come to develop and work with quite often. It would also be the start of the darkest years of my life, a period of self-loathing and desperation to hide from my reality in opioid addiction which would span seven years. The painting clearly shows the self destruction of body and soul and the dark path. Today I'm lucky to be clean and proactive about my recovery. I look at this painting now and I can only feel a hint of what was. Now I'm more overwhelmed by feelings of guilt and loss, and awareness of the price and responsibility that come with surviving addiction. Today I hope to discourage others from taking the same path. Through this painting, I hope you feel what I feel.

"2017-3-2 Salvation Army" by Michael Sherman (2018)

Artist statement: This painting observers the efforts and short falls addict’s lives. There is a chalk figure in the lower left of a fallen addict from the nearby parking building. The central building is the “Sally” (Salvation Army Rehab). This intersection is next to the Lou Costello Park in Paterson, NJ. There are 4 facilities in Paterson. It is not solving the problem. These facilities release addicts into Paterson neighborhoods to replace the ones that die. The neighborhood has a continual presence of the true Nature of addiction. The Nature is not simply the addict sitting under Lou Costello. It is not the local sale of drugs. Nor is it the smell of urine, feces and drugs. The rehabs are concentrating the relapses into my neighborhood. I am plagued by the constant reminder that I too am an addict with 18 years of recovery. I came to Paterson to cop and now I live inside IT. This painting is Addiction and Recovery side by side.

"Melting Away" by Michelle Harpster (2018)

Artist statement: “Melting Away” serves as a visual metaphor for addiction. Through the use of varied line-work and stylization the piece exhibits unique delicate beauty. Indicative to the theme, the skull offers a symbolic reference amongst a stark color pallet. Thus, offering the viewer with a visual warning as to the effects of addiction. The skull is made using encaustic wax and is meant to symbolize the “melting away” of a person as they struggle and succumb to the horrors of addiction.

"Dust" by Mirabelle Stutchbury (2018)

Artist statement: I created this piece imagining the woman as a heroin addict who has been using for some time but isn’t completely consumed by it yet. The evidence of a once healthy and beautiful life is present in the flowers and leaves of her hair, now dead and crumbling. Those flowers slowly turn into a languid sludge dripping down her temple and shirt, a rotting future and life. To her, the only beauty in her life are those poppies. A deceivingly lovely promise of warmth and relief, her drug is the actual cause of the deteriorating world. They are slowly sucking the life from her once beautiful hair. Her very world is crumbling around her in the same way. Once clean and promising white paper, representing a future and life, is being burned and torn from her. It turns to nothing but dust and broken glass, and all she can do is watch her world blow away in an invisible wind. Not even able to wipe the decay from her forehead or viscous, glue-like tears from her eyes. The crushing bleak darkness is creeping closer and closer to her, threatening to turn her into dust.

"Outrage Against Shattered Lives" by Nette Forne Thomas (2018)

Artist statement: This drawing was created on vellum because of the transparent quality which allows it to be viewed from the front and the back. Acetate was incised with dry point engraving tools and adhered over the drawing. This was done to depict the female biological symbol in a lacelike repetitive pattern that surrounds the “window” A broken piece of a facial sculpture was placed on the sill of the window box and is seen when viewed from the front. The drawing of a portion of the face of an outraged woman is contrasted with the broken childlike face. It reflects the anger and anguish generated by the lives shattered through drug abuse. The lacelike pattern of the female biological symbol around the window opening signifies the female essence that can remain unrealized because of drug addiction. The window box when swiveled on the rotating base to the backside shows the woman looking out from a darkened framework left alone in the devastation resulting from the loss of the young life. The tragedy of drug abuse is a tragedy for us all.

"Return to the Womb" by Noah Tavlin (2018)

Artist statement: This piece describes the numbness opiates provide to the very evisceration of life that they cause. In this collage piece, a statue head floats in a sea of sharks while being spoon fed pills. The statue is cold and lifeless and has a look of both dullness and distant bliss. His crown suggests his noble potential. Meanwhile, sharks are circling and there is blood in the water, indicating that his body is being ravaged.

"The Synthetic Guardians of Penn Station" by Raul Flores (2018)

Artist statement: Raised and born in Ecuador I found myself tangled up in between pigments, music, mountains, hope and poverty. The nightly cold of the city impulse me to hold on about what to do with my life till at 17, at the opposite side of the continent, things weren’t much different, rather shiner. The unbalanced climate of Jersey, the voices of a schizophrenic York and a confused me kept me unclear, to this day. So I make, creator? God only. I depict emotional inside and altered outsides, among them I still find myself amidst pigments, music, mountains, hope and poverty. The piece reflects a very sensitive state of the mind, commonly grasped among drug users. Drugs have spirits who dwell in their chemical compound, the way and intention which they are ingested transforms them into personalized spiritual beings who are dragged along by their foster parent till the end of his/her life. They guide, abuse, love, hurt, tickle, feed, steal, accompany, inspire, drain and kill their adoptive master, yet they remain together after. During this relationship, the drug abuser/lover develops abilities/disorders such as dream manipulation; lucid dreams, bipolar disorder, cosmic awareness, hive mind; shared mind, memory absorption and manipulation, precognition, thoughts, radio, television and internet broadcasting, clairaudience, clairvoyance, schizophrenia, etc. These are the synthetic fire drug spirits of the Newark Penn Station area, you won’t find them anywhere else in the world, they welcome everybody as long as one surrenders to their charms and participates in their lugubrious games. Period.

"Joey’s Journey" by Richard Pearson (2018)

Artist statement: My name is Richard Pearson I am an American folk artist and world-renowned musician. My entry for the heroin and opioid abuse exhibition parallels part of my life experience in drug abuse. It represents how one can go full circle in life top to bottom, and through the fire as long as they maintain hope and faith. The work is entitle Joeys journey and is a reflection of the lives of what many people go through in this serious world of drug abuse; a subculture in itself. One can literary live two lives one undercover and one known to society. Joey has a wonderful home, a loving wife, and a wonderful job. He is then introduced to drugs. Loses his home, goes to jail, from jail to a homeless shelter, to the park bench until he comes to a fork on the road. One is to recovery and the other is to death.

"Two Faced" by Rita Grande (2018)

Artist statement: This piece is of a woman that wears two different faces. One side of her is clean, happy, beautiful, and thriving. While the other side of her is struggling, addicted, lost, strung out, and sick from dope. The Poppy flowers in her hair represent her dependency on heroin. The pinpointed pupil, sores, wrinkles, and chapped cracked lips show the damage opiates do to the body. While were in our addiction it tears us up on the inside and we show it on the outside. The moth on her chest is a real species of moth it’s called a Deaths Head Hawk Moth. This moth has meaning in Greek Mythology and many other cultures around the world. It’s a beautiful creature that represents that death is near. The other moths in my piece also hold a belief in popular culture for their meaning. Moths are nocturnal and represent going from the darkness into the light. Which represents addiction and recovery well. Ancient cultures also believed moths can be an omen of death but also a symbol of transformation both good and bad. The moths represent a choice and if she chooses to keep using that death is very near hence the Death Hawk Moth landing on her. But also I am hoping this piece can open the hearts and minds of people to see that addicts can change if they have the support to do so. This piece is of a woman that is someone’s daughter, someone’s mother, someone’s sister, and someone’s friend. Isn’t she worth trying to help? I put those words on the piece to drive that point home to everyone. What if this was your mother, daughter, sister, or friend? I want my piece to promote hope and a conversation that we are all multifaceted as people and as addicts. The struggle is a dark one and without help there is only death that follows. Anyone can become an addict and anyone can become transformed into a better version of themselves just like the moth to live a clean and sober life.

"Struggles Of Mind" by Vikash Jha (2018)

Artist statement: This painting depicts the sense of loneliness and insurmountable challenge and mental struggles, the victims of addiction experience. The muddled and hazy colors of green and blue in the background show the darkness the addicts feel and the little light of hope they have in that situation. Their mental and physical struggles with the addiction are shown by the blood scratches that not only affect them physically but more so psychologically and mentally. The drips of blood from the top depict the state of mind that these abuse victims many times find themselves in, leading to suicides and other kinds of violent crimes, triggered by the epidemic of addiction. These abuse victims need support and help from their families, friends and society in general to have any chance of survival and cure. The emotional turmoil, mental void and sense of hopelessness that creeps in the addicts mind is so profound that without the concerted effort and support from family, society and government they feel that it's a 'point of no return' for them. This needs to be addressed urgently. We as a society have a moral responsibility to help our sick afflicted by this disease to win over this fight.

"Watching" by Virginia Johns (2018)

Artist statement: WATCHING is a created heart-felt out-pouring through the eyes. Watching, is the breath requiring utter patience, prayer, grace, strength, honor, will, compassion, mercy, tension, grace, breath, grace My life has been painfully affected by the desperately helpless nature of watching - witnessing 2loved ones die at the mercy of heroin and opioid abuse related side effects. I've watched other loved ones continue to struggle, not dying, slowly dying, partially dying, live while dying with an addiction to opioids. Watching, is its own quiet form of dying, of pain and suffering. Drug addiction robs everyone it touches of life, breath, freedom, the ability to see clearly; the addict and the loved ones. In the eye is the iridescent glimmer of hope, the soul, the sorrow and cleansing of tears, the detachment of sanity and health, the space to support, the witness of another human in their struggle/experience while standing in the center of myself with eyes wide open.

"Face of Your Child" by Allison Willis (2017)

Artist statement: This is the face of your child after you die. This child just happens to be mine. This original photo depicts heroin addiction at its most devastating moment. This is a picture of my daughter Ava. She is holding a picture of her father Jason. This picture was taken at a memorial Mass on the one-year anniversary of his death. Jason died of a heroin overdose on December 4th 2015. His body was found all alone in an abandoned house in Paterson New Jersey. Considering we had lost contact because of his addiction, I did not know of his death until four and a half months later. No one was there for him when he died. His body was left at the medical examiner's office just waiting for someone to claim him. We were robbed of any kind of closure. We couldn't have a wake or a funeral. We never got to say goodbye. This picture depicts the most horrific side of heroin addiction. My daughter has lost her father. The only one she will ever get. These pictures are all I have left of Jason. This is all that my daughter has left of her father.

"Lifted" by Angel Reyes (2017)

Artist statement: The subject of drug abuse and addiction hits home to me, I may not have known it back then but I witnessed my uncle become a victim of Heroin abuse. Every day I would see him age and see the scabs all over his body. This piece is a visual representation of what I imagine it would feel like to undergo such a difficult time in life. The subject is being succumbed by a colorful cloud representing addiction and the temporary joy it brings. Yet this cloud cannot hide the truth and the rain takes shape into the loved ones the victim has affected in her life.

"Break Free" by Bryan Espinal (2017)

Artist Statement: I lost everything pursing you and I continue to lose more and more. You have been controlling my mind and body! The odds were stacked against me; I believed there was no way out but today I am breaking free. This is my new journey to recovery. I will blossom and be the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete. My creation represents that transition in choosing to go through recovery and breaking the chains that were mentally and physically imposed by heroine. The children represent first and foremost that we all at some point have been a child in this world and we must be aware of what we pass on and teach future generations, as we grow older. These children are the female and male adults in the image representing them when they were younger and something occurred at an early age that made them curious to go down this path. Although we grow up, we always have that child inside us. It’s never too late to dream and to change the direction of where we head into in life. Ultimately, both the male and female in this creation end up becoming roses in the concrete. This symbolizes the possibility of something impossible manifesting. Hope, Love, and Change

"Playing with Fire" by Coby Dunn (2017)

Artist statement: My depiction of Opioid and Heroin abuse highlights the effects drug use has on may people. I named my work “Playing with Fire” because the flame in the photo highlights the danger in drugs. The chains in the picture are meant to add a sense of imprisonment or burden. Drug use pulls people in and holds them down like a chain. The blurred background and crisp image of the hands is meant to show how drug use changes someone’s mind. While addicted, all they can think about or feel is the desire to get their next hit. Finally, in giving the hair color, I tried to show that drugs can take a hold on anyone, even the young and innocent.

"Like a Puppet on Strings" by Danielle DeRosa (2017)

Artist statement: An addiction does not simply happen overnight. The addiction starts out small, simple, and sometimes even by accident. You are in control, similar to a puppeteer. It can be for an escape, for a euphoric feeling, or a pain reliever. However, although one can believe it to start “small” and “harmless,” it eventually consumes the person. It becomes a physical dependence. One needs to get the feeling back, but whatever they have just doesn’t cut it. Unfortunately, this can lead to them trying heroin, a decision that there’s typically no way to back out of. Eventually even the heroin becomes a tolerance, and they need more and more to achieve the feeling they first felt. Now you are the puppet. The drugs work their way up to becoming the puppet master, while tying strings onto you to make sure you can’t break away.

"Don't Leave Me" by David Rudolph (2017)

Artist statement: Most often my work brings joy and comfort to my audiences, but this piece I created called, “Don’t Leave me” is more of a mournful piece of the desolation addiction holds on us and our loved ones. I felt the spirit and pain of my ten friends that have died due to Percocet and Heroin abuse painting this as tears rolled down my face as if they were speaking through me. We all have lost someone or know someone who has lost the battle to addiction. So, in my acrylic on canvas painting I show a strong angelic boy and girl full of love but the grip of addiction so great that they slowly drip and fade away from us. I know they wish they could have won this battle but this disease is too great even for the strongest. They are angels now watching over us and I felt their spirits as I put this all together. I hope my painting can bring something meaningful to you as it did for me. Amen.

"Illusive" by Debbie Pine (2017)

Artist statement: Illusive - deceptive; illusory; based on illusion; not real; imaginary; false; all in one's mind. This work is a double entendre. It portrays the delusional nature, chaos, and hallucinogenic effects of being under the influence of drugs and addiction. There are essentially three images that all break off from each other that illustrate all of these concepts. They are all illustrated contrastingly with different attention to sharpness, clarity and distortion. "Illusive" shows that there are multiple sides and/or personalities while under the influence of drugs or when one is in the throes of addiction. While under the influence, the same is projected and internalized. The addictive personality and isms are pervasive and the addict will go to any lengths to meet their need. Hence, the emergence of illusion and/or the deception. This piece is deeply emotional because being an addict or loving someone that is afflicted by addiction affects all that are involved. It is a family disease. All require help to recover from the effects of addiction. Deception and illusion are at the core of addiction whether one is the addict or the loved one and illicit deep sadness, grief and loss or guilt and shame.

"Stop the Violence" by Erin Mauterer (2017)

Artist statement: Heroin and opiate abuse is no laughing matter. It is a serious, life-threatening monster. It is not glamorous despite having the power to appear beautiful to those who succumb to it. The way the epidemic has grown, and continues to grow, is astounding. It has got to stop, we have got to stop. It is imperative that we recognize and confront this problem while simultaneously showing compassion and patience toward those living in the grip of addiction. It is truly a monster that we all have to slay together.

"The Struggle is Real" James Pavlis (2017)

Artist statement: The piece I am submitting is called 'The Struggle is Real". I wanted to capture the heartache and overwhelming pain this addict in my piece is experiencing. I wanted to show how broken his addiction left him. I want the audience to feel how he feels in that very moment. I have an emotional attachment to this piece because while I was working on it, it made me remember my own struggle and pain I felt throughout the long years of my own addiction. His empty lifeless eyes show how he can no longer go on living the life of addiction. It shows how every minute of every day is a true struggle because he must feed the monster inside of him to go on. The door symbolizes the door way to recovery. It shows the endless black hole of despair and grief his addiction led him to. In the picture he is walking away from the door to try to begin a new life, hopefully sober. Even as I was drawing this fictional character I felt hopeful he would find the path he must take to finally extinguish his inner demons, because in all reality everyone has their own demons, addiction related or not. It takes a strong individual to recognize their problems and face them head on before it inevitably destroys them. The strangle hold of addiction is very real. I want to have the audience feel and experience the severity of this disease.

"Fallen Angel's Breath" by Janet Corrente (2017)

Artist statement: Fallen to addiction, the illness of the physical flesh or ego dimension; he is without hands, eyes and higher-consciousness but is reminded that his guardian has hands, has eyes, and is but an unwounded conscious soul that is always within him. Shall he surrender to willpower or the life force that is inside, he can and will overcome every physical realm obstacle that he may cross in this lifetime. He stands strong in his upper body as he is reminded that he is a survivor and healing is a physical manifestation of the spiritual realm. If I think I am so I shall be…

"The Mind Affliction" by Jennifer McCrain (2017)

Artist statement: Hooked on the drug. Drowning out my fear and sorrow. I use more. Don't want to wake up tomorrow. DOPE will outlast me. Facts drilled into my brain. So many thoughts driving me insane. Experiences recorded like a tape in my mind. Don't want to play it over. I want to stop it all this time. I just don't want to feel anymore. Yet a little voice seems to scream through a closed door. "Don't give up!" But me. I just want to let go. Seems like a rabid rabbit wants me to go straight to hell. I know there's a way out. Someone did once tell. You don't have to die. You can get well.

"No Boundaries!" by Jessica Smith (2017)

Artist statement: Wonderful town. Great schools. Beautiful home. Fancy car. Loving family. Caring friends. Not us. Not my family. Not my brother… I was wrong. The Opiate/Heroin Epidemic left my family devastated after we lost my precious brother, Kenny, on August 16, 2016. He was just 21-years-old. Opiate addiction does not discriminate. It can affect anyone of any race, ethnicity, gender, or socio-economic status. It has no boundaries. My hope is that as a society, we can come together to erase the stigma and misconceptions about addiction. Addiction is chronic, it’s progressive, and needs treatment

"Heroin" by Julie Wane (2017)

Artist statement: For addicts, Heroin is a Goddess. While chaos is an inevitable consequence of use, Heroin promises wild color in a world of darkness. Her roots ensnare the addict while devastating familial relationships. In my painting, I depict Heroin as a female with a dual nature. Bright hues are used to denote the beautiful illusions she conjures for the addict. Conversely, shades of grey and traditional images of pain and sorrow (Kollwitz, Van Gogh) depict the misery she inflicts on addicts and their families. Denial or reality? Recovery means facing the consequences of destructive behavior and acknowledging untreated mental illness or trauma. Heroin saves her victims from stark truth while augmenting the unacknowledged darkness. Support for recovery efforts crumble when friends and family members themselves submit to despair and denial. The opioid epidemic cannot be stemmed until we provide easily accessible, unwavering hope to addicts and those who love them. Without treatment, without hope, Heroin is the only savior offering an escape from pain. Addicts need both individual fortitude and societal encouragement to turn from Heroin’s deceptive euphoria.

"A Look in the Past" by Kayla Mitchell (2017)

Artist statement: My piece for submission to this contest, titles “A Look in the Past”, depicts an opioid addict reflecting on his old life. The man can see himself with his wife and child in the mirror while he stands in a dirty bathroom with a pill bottle in his hands. I intended to convey a strong feeling of sadness through the drawing, and depict the real effects that drug use can have on a seemingly perfect life.

"Defeated" by Laura Cain (2017)

Artist statement: The painting exhibits the effects of drugs and their impact on one’s life. There are words, doubling as bricks of a wall, moving in a circular motion around a naked girl to create the illusion that she is at the bottom of dark a hole, alluding to the idea that by using you dig yourself deeper and deeper into seclusion from your true self, reality, friends and family. The words are a metaphorical story illustrating how alone and desperate drugs leave you. The girl is nude to stress desperation and just how exposed and vulnerable drugs can cause you to be.

"The New Slaves" by Laura Stankaityte (2017)

Artist statement: This piece focuses on the toll that drugs take on the human body. Drug abuse is commonly romanticized in pop culture, so my goal was to depict the true effects of drug abuse. By using colored pencil and emphasizing multiple parts of the body, I was able to create a piece that intensifies the subject. Dull, yellowed, and cold skin is a common symptom of drug abuse so I manipulated color to create a feeling of translucence on the body. One of the most common effects on the body is change in weight which is why you see a contrast in body type. Some of the lesser known symptoms are poor oral health and blood diseases which is why most of the attention is drawn towards blood. By focusing on color I created and eye catching piece that forces viewers to see the message.

"Addiction" by Loretta Warfield (2017)

Artist statement: Watching people around me crash time after time again, struck me hard. As a student I’ve watched or heard my fellow classmates either struggle themselves or have family members struggling with addiction. Most of us hear the same lies full of sorrow. We watch loved ones around us repeating old habits telling us “it’s not what it looks like”, when in our heart we know exactly what it is. In my photo I portrayed one’s vision after relapsing and falling victim to old habits. Blink twice was a reference to the moment you get sober to the moment you relapse and make a choice. In a blink of an eye everything can come crashing down all at once. We are human we breath the same air, but the difference between me and you is that I said NO.

"This is How It Should Feel" by Luis Alves (2017)

Artists statement: The "This Is How It Should Feel" handmade collage is depicting an altered state associated with substance misuse. I have juxtaposed contradictory images creating a nightmarish inner dialogue and conveying the natural world in turmoil: altered vision, color changing critters, pill flowers, butterflies flying in circles, brown water etc. My art is characterized by pop culture and advertising influences as well as vibrant colors and bold compositions with the goal of exposing our fetishes, obsessions, strengths and weaknesses.

"Flowers at the Edge of Light" by Mia Mustascio (2017)

Artist statement: While delving into a recent article in the New York Times, “Inside a Killer Drug Epidemic: A Look at America's Opioid Crisis” I was drawn to the story and the photo of a young woman with the most soulful eyes depicting her struggle and her personal fight for freedom of her addiction. My photograph is a compilation of photographs I have taken of 3 unusual masks These masks speak to me, they reach down inside to an undiscovered place. I drew a similarity to the photo of this young lady as well as her mother, who represents all mothers as they desperately do what they need to to to help their children. Each image is connected to the other as recovery is an ongoing process. May those who suffer from substance abuse be guided to the edge of light, to be surrounded by flowers, to become the person they decide they want to be.

"Innocence" by Michelle Lipnitsky (2017)

Artist statement: My piece, titled “Innocence”, represents the destruction of the body after the intake of drugs. The body of the man who is smoking is slowly deteriorating and becoming worse. There is also a child-like face inside the man’s chest, which represents the innocence dying. Because of the agony on the child’s face, it is clear to see that because of the drugs and destruction, it left the youth and incorruptibility of his former self in pain. The color red in the puff of smoke from the cigarette is a representation of what the color means, such as love, desire, willpower, rage, anger, and wrath to give a few examples. He is inhaling and exhaling all of these meanings, and destroying his body and youth in order to receive what he thinks he “needs” essentially. For a lot of people who are addicted to a type of drug, it is easy for them to become attached because they think it is what they need, when in reality, it’s only destroying you. My piece represents the situation of the death of the youth and the destruction that addiction has on the mind and body.

"Unwanted Master" by Mirabelle Stutchbury (2017)

Artist statement: When Heroin, or any drug, is abused, it becomes a force that controls the addict’s life and actions; A master. The addict is bound to it (the painted chain). It slowly diminishes who that person was, what they did with their life, even their name (the unavailable information on the wrist tag). And it slowly replaces who they are and what they were made of (the matching color in needle and wrist). It can slowly cause everything to swirl down a metaphorical drain until nothing is left of that person (the pain around the edges).

"Spring Fever" by Monica Faltas (2017)

Artist statement: ’Spring Fever’ was created to be an evocative representation of heroin addiction, speaking volumes to the ways in which users have abused the destructive drug. Heroin originates in poppy plants, the beautifully alluring flowers depicted in the piece. Showing the vibrant flower in place of the variety of ways in which the drug can be used represents the euphoria experienced, and how something so beautiful can be so harshly exploited. The looming darkness surrounding and encompassing the user foreshadows the inevitable damage that the depressant drug causes to human life. Only in the fleeting moments of heroin usage can the genuine rush be obtained. Overall, the work was crafted to make an impactful comment on heroin addiction, and the way in which something so lovely and natural can be humanly manipulated into a means of danger and self-destruction.

"Pollution of Life" by Natalie Obedos (2017)

Artist statement: Pollution of Life was meant to portray not only the literal poisoning of the body, but also the way drug/heroin use can affect someone’s personal life. The piece plays with some surrealist aspects and has a limited color palette that is blue and orange-centric. The blue represents the aspects of life that one who abuses heroin loses but can regain. The red-orange represents aggression and pursuit of pleasure, conveying an indulgent and self-destructive path. The ‘pollutants’ that are released into the ocean via a syringe represent different things that one misses out on when abusing drugs. The teddy bear stands for both childhood and children; the camera represents the general concept of memories, and the watch represents time missed; the engagement ring represents a loss of love, and the soda can represent a loss of true enjoyment and relaxation.

"Jane Doe" by Tehyla McLeod (2017)

Artist statement: This artwork is an acrylic painting made up of 8 small canvases and one big one which holds everything together. The photograph appears 2 dimensional however, its 3D. I painted this woman to show that there is a sick and healthy side to everyone. The right side of the face is clean, the eyes shine and the lips protrude with a rich pink healthy color. But the left side reveals the scars of pain, hurt, abuse, and addiction. Her right eye is alert and bright. The left eye is bloodshot due to drug abuse and stress. The left side of her lip has a bloody emission. The black splatter paint (more viable in real life) signifies the damage and ash of a broken person. People can look at this woman with disgust, pity or even guilt, but the real meaning is that everyone needs a doctor, and everyone can recover in ways that no one expects. People can only get better once they realize they have been sick.

"Dreaming Of A Brighter Light" by Trevor Frasca

Artist statement: The scariest part of addiction is wanting so desperately to stop, but having no power to do so on your own. I was caught up in the grip and I wanted nothing more than to be clean. I knew I was better than this life of dereliction. I woke up every day with the willingness to change and went to bed with the hopes I wouldn't have to face another day. These contrasting thoughts made up who I was in active addiction. A lost, hopeless, tormented soul. I wanted to die, but my will to use was stronger, so I lived to use. I knew there was a brighter life for me as long as I held on just a little longer. This drawing is a depiction of how I felt inside. Living through the hell that was active addiction, but knowing there was a better life out there for me. I knew I would eventually find peace and acceptance within myself.

"Living in Vein" by Tyrone Gause

Artist statement: As I lay in this gritty, seedy Dark Place I have become accustomed to, I am beginning to learn that I don't have to die before I live. Consequences have been severe, but I don't have to keep living this sad existence. For over forty years, I have existed to stay sedated. I have no love for myself and I live in misery. I have cheated myself and those who care for me. I have lost count of the times I have overdosed and I smell the odors of death as I move closer to that Dark Place 6 feet under. I see the environment that Darkness brings, but putting poison in my veins hasn't distracted me to the point that I cannot pray. It is time to cast aside everything in my path to reach my Higher Power, whatever it may be. It is time to beg forgiveness for all the abuse I have inflicted on my body and soul and to start my healing process with passion. Once I am clean, I will know I have reached my Higher Power. Amen.