“The Struggle” by: Veronica Cianfrano

There is a constant struggle in allof us.  A struggle to keep ourheads above water as we try achieve a dream.  Whether you work to support your children in hopes that youmay one day see them achieve greatness, or you sacrifice everything to reachyour potential; you carry a burden. You carry it with pride.  It is the magic of hope we carry in even the heaviest of hearts thatmake us human.  This is thehumanity I hope to capture with my installation. 

The center of a stark room will hold a bundle of over 20018" silver metallic helium balloons. These balloons come together to hold up a cement slab (a piece of thickfoam painted to look like a heavy cement slab).  The message is simple. It represents a struggle to preserve the desire to pursue our dreamsamidst an often times bleak socio-economic landscape.  Tension occurs when the viewer realizes that as time passes,the balloons will inevitably lose their air and the cement slab will slowlyfall to the ground, robbing the piece of its magic.  of course, the optimism lies in the fact the cement slab ismerely made of foam and although the balloons will lose their air and the slabwill lower through time.  It willnot become anchored to the ground.