2024 Science Without Borders® Challenge Finalists: 15-19 year old students
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is delighted to announce the finalists in our 2024 Science Without Borders® Challenge! This international contest engages students in important ocean issues through art. This year we asked students to create a piece of art that highlights the beauty and wonder of life in the deep sea.
We received a record number of submissions this year—over 1,700 entries from 82 different countries—making the selection process challenging yet rewarding. The submissions were breathtaking. Prepare to be amazed by their artwork, which showcases deep-sea creatures and ecosystems and emphasizes the urgent need to preserve the deep sea.
Entries to the Science Without Borders® Challenge are judged in two categories based on age. Here are the finalists selected from the older group of applicants, students 15-19 years old:
"Look Into The Light" by Jiayi (Jenny) Xu, Age 15, United States of America
Artist's Statement: For this painting I created an ominous, frontal composition of an angler fish luring its surrounding creatures such as mantis shrimps and squid. I imagined what it must be like to live in an environment with the absence of light that’s filled with danger lurking in every corner. The bioluminescent lure of the angler fish creates light where there is none, becoming a transcendent object of otherworldly admiration/impending doom for those that become hypnotized by its wonder. The scene is emphasized by the hydrothermal vent and the imagined light rings that would both blind and captivate the unsuspecting prey. I also recently stumbled upon brand new discoveries of previously unknown species in the abyssopelagic zone under the sea as well as in Chile that I incorporated into my piece. In researching the deep seas, I was truly amazed at how forms of life can not only adapt to extreme environments
