My artwork depicts the role of natural antioxidants in fighting the aging process against free radicals. I chose this topic because I am passionate about medicine and I found that the double-faceted role of oxygen is deeply interesting because it is in effect a paradox of human life. This is because oxygen plays contradicting roles as it is essential to all living beings, however it can also have extremely damaging affects to the body. My artwork consists of a fortress made of cardboard that was used to represent the human body. Inside the castle walls are a multitude of different medieval soldiers that I chose to paint orange and blue. I used the color orange to portray the knights that are defending the castle in order to represent the role of natural antioxidants, making reference to a source of antioxidants that are ingested in the form of vitamin C. I used the blue color to portray the attacking knights in order to represent free radicals and how they enter the body in the form of oxygen which I associate with breathing open air under a blue sky. I chose to portray the blue knights on horses penetrating the body towards the scene of battle to express how oxygen molecules come into the body through the airways and towards the lungs. The fact that I portrayed the knights entering on horse was also purposely done in order to convey how oxygen generally enters the body as stable molecules however some of these oxygen molecules become very unstable upon losing electrons and as a result have high oxidation potential. These are called reactive oxygen species and can be very damaging to human cells of the body. I used the knights on foot emerging from the lungs to despite this process and I feel the artwork powerfully exemplifies this visually. I also portrayed the orange army desperately attempting to defend an hourglass which acts as a metaphor for aging and the lifespan of a human being. I also notably chose to use a ballista and catapults and depicted the blue knights surrounding and outnumbering the orange army to portray how the particular human being's body I chose to represent in my artwork is running close to an end as the blue knights slowly take over the castle.

There were several big ideas of chemistry that my artwork reflected upon, firstly that matter is atomic as the war the I chose to depict in reality takes place on a small scale atomic level within the body. Although this war is however small it is important to understand that millions of wars like these take place on a daily basis in the body and it is a product of all these wars between antioxidants and free radicals that act as a factor that determines at what pace your body will decompose. Another big idea of chemistry that this artwork reflected upon was that elements display periodicity. This is especially relevant to this artwork given that the destroying and protecting of cells takes place in the form of reactive oxygen species that are unstable and attempt to steal electrons from cells of the body in order to reach a stable octet of lower potential energy. This in effect has to due with the periodicity of oxygen and how these reactive oxygen species seek to form ionic bonds. The artwork also reflects upon the idea that chemical bonds form when electrons pair and this is present in the form of heterolytic and homolytic bond fission. In simple terms, heterolytic fission occurs when a bond splits unevenly and one atom gets two ions while the other gets none. In the case of homolytic fission, bonds split evenly as each atom gets one of two electrons creating an unstable atom creating the infamous free radical. Chemical bonding is therefore essential to the creation of free radicals. Lastly, the artwork notably reflects upon two of the four types of reactions in chemistry including oxidation and radical reactions. In simple terms an oxidation reaction comprises of a loss of electrons and this occurs as shown with the formation of free radicals. The harm that these free radicals cause to the human body consists of an oxidation reaction as cells of the body lose electrons to these free radicals and "die out". However antioxidants are a source that counters this reaction acting as a reducing agent as it offers its electrons to the free radicals in order to neutralize the free radicals and render them stable. The free radicals in this reaction therefore act as oxidizing agents as they removes electrons from antioxidants and conversely gain electrons. Radical reactions also occur between antioxidants and free radicals as free radicals are atoms or molecules with unpaired valence electrons that are highly chemically reactive and as they seek to find an electron. This process is called a radical reaction and the fact that such a reaction is highly reactive is a reason I chose to portray the reaction violently as the free radicals are depicted as barbaric and destructive in my artwork. To conclude, I felt that this project was deeply enriching and allowed me to draw and relate to concepts of chemistry in an unconventional, yet meaningful way as we not only had to draw upon our understanding of a given topic but also allowing us to draw upon our creativity and imagination in order to depict a given property of chemistry.