Art Review: Artist Abagail Serrano by Brianna Pacheco

    The name of the Artist is Abagail Serrano. A peculiarity about the artworks is that instead of the subjects being human, they are monsters. Some either have fewer or more than the normal amount of limbs or facial features. The skintones are colorful, outside the range found in humans, and are more akin to what is found in wildlife. Some of the textures of the skin are furry, scaly, or slimy. A few of the students are shown to have forms that aren’t humanoid.

Abagail Serrano, Bodum School: First Day in Room 305, July 2025, Procreate

    Bodum School: First Day in Room 305 depicts a wide shot of the classroom, showcasing all nine students and their teacher. Colorful streamers and a welcome banner are hanging from the ceiling. Although all the students are in their seats, each one has a different posture and attitude. The girl on the far left is standing up from her seat in excitement, while the boy in the next seat is slouching down, seeming to retreat into himself like a turtle does with its shell. Across, one of the students has fallen asleep. Two different students are conversing, one of them even turning around in his seat to fully face the person. Towering over the students in the background is the teacher. She has her hands on her hips, which is usually associated with sternness, but her expression is smiling. This signifies to me that the teacher understands that each student has their own needs, that their disabilities should be given acceptance and accommodations rather than rejection. They need to be able to express themselves in the way that is required.

Abagail Serrano, Bodum School: Experiments with “Dr.Aris”, Procreate

 WIP

    Bodum School: Experiments with “Dr.Aris” focuses on one of the students, seemingly referred to as Dr. Aris based on the work’s title, during the class period for science. This is supported by the fact that the students, both in the foreground and background, are at tables with miniature volcanoes on them. In the foreground, the boy with red skin and horns is pouring baking soda and vinegar into the volcano with a mischievous expression, while two students are surrounding him, one watching the experiment with fascination and the other looking at the boy in panic. In the background, other students are conducting their own volcano experiments.

Abagail Serrano, Bodum School: Omar’s Happy place , Procreate

 WIP

    Bodum School: Omar’s Happy place focuses on Omar during art class, which appears to be a safe space for him. In the foreground, there are three students at canvases. Omar is positioned to be the focal point of the artwork, and he is seen replicating the still life in the background onto his canvas. To his left, someone has tried to draw the still life to the best of their abilities, while to his right, the person is drawing whatever comes to mind on the canvas

    The artwork is not only meant to represent disabilities among students but also to normalize their existence. Not everyone fits into what is considered to be the normal standards, and sometimes that results in a student being labeled as “gifted” or “troublemaker.” Most of the time, they have a genuine need for help within a learning environment, but they may be overlooked, and the result is that they fall behind. Sometimes, a student will be unaware that they have a learning disability for the majority of their life, as there was no one speaking out to advocate for them. Serrano’s series signifies that students who have these disabilities need acceptance and accommodations. There is a need for them to have an outlet to be able to express themselves constructively. The best course of action for these students is to understand their disability and support them in the way that is essential for their growth.

    My first thought is that the group of students depicted is noisy and unfocused. However, that is based on the behavior of a normal classroom. Usually, the teacher commands the presence in class, and every student is focused on them. But as shown in the Bodum School series, the students range from being talkative and outgoing to being reclusive and sleepy. Some of them become focused on their task, others do the work normally, and a few go off the script entirely. This establishes that each student has their own needs and different subjects of enjoyment. Through viewing these artworks, I have come to the realization that I am ignorant of the hardships of those who have disabilities or learning differences. This is something that I should have more awareness of as I could meet someone with a disability or one day have a child who does. It is important to be informed to give the correct support.

Johnson Simon, Wheelchair Madness, Acrylic on Canvas 5' x 4'

    An artwork that reminds me of Serrano’s with a similar topic about disability is Wheelchair Madness by Johnson Simon. The work is acrylic on a 5’ x 4’ canvas that depicts three people in a wheelchair basketball tournament, each of whom has a basketball. The style of the artwork is expressionistic, a mixture of abstract and representational. The heads of the figures are left ambiguous, and the overall details of the piece are minimal. However, based on how the bodies are positioned in the wheelchairs, you can tell the direction that each figure is focused towards. This is movement that Simon is representing by the composition he chose for the figures. As Simon suffers from cerebral palsy, it is important to him to be able to express movement within his work as a way to overcome his physical limitations. Serrano, on the other hand, broadens the topic of disability and focuses it on students. Simon’s work is about his disability and expressing it through art, while Serrano is using art to advocate awareness for learning disabilities.