The second annual Bookstore Art Competition has inspired students to come up with some interesting pieces, the top three of which are now on display in the Bookstore’s front window.
The front of Brain and Mind by Rebecca Adams
Rebecca Adams won first prize, consisting of $500 worth of art supplies, for her artwork titled Brain and Mind. “My piece explores what makes up our realities in both the physical and the psychological sense. It uses these aspects to portray how they make up each person individually and as a whole in society,” says Adams.
Her piece is two sided with two heads in relief partially constructed of puzzle pieces on one side and a 3-D city on the other. “For each puzzle piece, I chose important topics 
or events from various media sources that have an effect on the way we perceive the world or ourselves,” says Adams, of the Faculty of Health.
The back of Rebecca Adams’ winning piece, Brain and Mind
“I created the city on the opposite side to demonstrate the interconnectedness of our brains as physical systems, and the concrete environment we live in as a part of a much larger, but nevertheless connected, system. These mechanical and non-mechanical aspects are what make us who we are, working together to connect us to our environment and others, and vice versa.”
The second prize winner is Paulina Su for her piece Imagining the Possibilities. She won $100 toward art supplies. “My piece attempts to reignite ones’ love and 
excitement of reading in the York community. Throughout the school year, I’ve observed students being bogged down by mandatory course readings. I feel many students have unfortunately lost their love for reading or find they no longer have time for it,” says Su, who is in both the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Fine Arts. “With this art piece I want to change this by reminding the wider York community, especially students, of the joy and adventures that come with the simple act of opening a book.”
Paulina Su’s second-place piece, Imagining the Possibilities
In third place with TTC Bus Sign is Angel Perez of the Faculty of Fine Arts. Directly adopting the design of the Toronto Transit Commission bus signs, the art piece re-works the former’s visual layout onto a flat surface, removed from its intended use as a post signifying a bus stop. The materials used (black vinyl on white acrylic) were shaped through both mechanical and automated digital processes. The simplicity of its design, accomplished by its minimal use of symbols and basic colour scheme, offers viewers a re-contextualization of each element.
Last year’s inaugural winners were: Ana Paula Gonzalez Urdaneta in first place for her acrylic on canvas piece, The Bibliothecary; Leo Krukowski in second spot for his 
hanging steel sheet with rust, titled Rust Painting; and Rija Ahsan in third with her acrylic on canvas piece, Myself as the Mona Lisa.
TTC Bus Sign by Angel Perez took third spot in the art competition
The art competition is organized by the Bookstore, along with York’s Department of Visual Arts, and the jury included visual arts faculty and Bookstore staff members.
The winning works will remain on display until the end of June.
Above: Last year’s first-place winner Ana Paula Gonzalez Urdaneta’s piece, titled The Bibliothecary, and third-place winner Rija Ahsan’s piece, titled Myself as the Mona Lisa