FONTANA, CA – A.B. Miller High School Class of 2022 graduate Carolina Gonzalez Ceja has concluded her educational journey in Fontana Unified, but she will continue to represent her alma mater in the halls of Congress after her artwork was voted as the California 35th Congressional District’s winning entry in the 2022 Congressional Art Competition.

Gonzalez Ceja’s oil painting, “The Mirror That Stings,” will be included in an exhibit housed at the U.S. Capitol building, along with artwork from every congressional district in the United States, for the next year. Since 1982, the competition, also known as “The Artistic Discovery,” has featured the work of more than 650,000 student artists from across the country.

“Carolina is an outstanding artist who is always willing to try new things, and completely dedicated to her craft,” A.B. Miller High art teacher Delana Martin said. “Carolina was a great student who was always on top of her assignments, and a loving person who was always ready to help her classmates. I am so proud of her and what she has accomplished, and her career in art has just started.”

Gonzalez Ceja, who will attend UC Riverside in the fall and pursue an art major, distinguished herself as a versatile and talented artist with an ability to work with numerous mediums – including watercolor, pastel, pen and ink and print – after taking Martin’s Advanced Placement Art course in both her junior and senior years at A.B. Miller.

The introspective “The Mirror That Stings” is Gonzalez Ceja’s first oil painting. Incorporating a variety of elements such as texture, composition and value, Gonzalez Ceja portrays two lavender-haired figures, both clad in white gowns, looking at each other, surrounded by flowers and an abstract background made up of serene and peaceful colors.

“The figure on the left is someone who will never reach the standard set for them. They are reaching towards the figure on the right, who is someone that fits the standard, but at a heavy cost. Neither is content due to an impossible standard set out by their environment,” Gonzalez Ceja said. “Using oil paint at different consistencies, I painted this piece with a tragic atmosphere in a subtle manner.”

The beauty and mastery of the painting struck a chord with District 35 constituents, who indicated their approval by casting enough online votes to ensure the artwork would make the trip to Washington, D.C. as the contest winner.

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FUSD_ABMILLER_CONGRESSART: A.B. Miller High School Class of 2022 graduate Carolina Gonzalez Ceja’s painting, “The Mirror That Stings,” was selected to represent California’s 35th Congressional District in the 2022 Congressional Art Competition and will be exhibited for one year at the U.S. Capitol building. Gonzalez Ceja will attend UC Riverside in the fall and pursue an art major.