The art inspiring us

Part of a series of minimalist portraits, Boy in a Hoodie confronts the viewer with the quiet yet unyielding presence of a child. Cloaked in a pale hoodie, his gaze is steady, self-possessed, and edged with defiance; a refusal to be diminished. Despite his youth, the boy’s expression radiates an awareness beyond his years, a subtle challenge to how society perceives and values children.

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The single word emblazoned across his chest, ESSENTIAL, anchors the work. More than a fashion statement, it emerges as a declaration: not peripheral, not secondary, not an afterthought, but vital in every sense. The text becomes both shield and manifesto, pushing against the cultural bias of childism, the tendency to grant children less respect or dignity simply because of their age.

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This portrait insists on recognition: of children not as “becomings,” but as beings already whole, worthy of reverence, and essential to the fabric of our collective humanity

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