BOUNDLESS: Take to the Streets by Presentation High School

BOUNDLESS PRESENTATION HS

tothe tothe

ART & LIT MAGAZINE

USE yOUR VOICE USE yOUR VOICE

Welcome to Boundless Volume VII!

Street Art became our theme this year because of our unanimous love for the beautiful murals on our streets and the mechanical elegance of cityscapes. We sought artworks of different mediums and voices, just as we find in the art on utility boxes or the walls of our favorite cafes.

“Take to the Streets” is a call for boundless creativity and self expression.

P.S. We do not promote illegal graffiti.

Your directors, Olivia Tumacder, Hoai-Trang Hoang, and Stella Pham

All images and writing are the property of each artist and may not be reproduced or copied without permission.

SPEAk UP! SPEAk UP!

JURORS JURORS

Anusha Jain graduated from Presentation in 2024, and is currently at UC Irvine majoring in Psychology and Biology. In her free-time, she is always creating- from drawing and scrapbooking to graphic design and sewing, The arts are a huge part of her life. Anusha is so grateful to be a part of Boundless again. As a former director, this magazine was one of the highlights of her high school experience, and a fantastic way to celebrate the talent of Presentation creatives.

Catherine T. Nguyen is an award-winning director, producer, and festival programmer based in California. Her passion for storytelling drew her to the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where she graduated cum laude with a B.F.A. in Film and Television and a minor in the Business of Entertainment, Media and Technology from Stern. Her most notable work as a producer is CHICKEN, which world premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. WHITE BUTTERFLY, her directorial debut, has screened at festivals around the world, including the Hawai’i International Film Festival, CAAMFest (AT&T InspirASIAN Undergraduate Winner), and Yale Student Film Festival (Best Director Winner), among others. She currently works at EST Media as a producer, developing scripted projects and branded content.

These

are Presentation alumni involved in the arts who have donated their time to review our student artwork. After reviewing the selected work from each category, they have chosen pieces that they consider to embody a unique and creative perspective.

Look out for their ‘tags’ that mark these pieces!

Danielle Cartier is a multifaceted artist and educator known for her large-scale, mixed media paintings and mural projects. Born in 1991 in Northern California, she holds a BFA from Sonoma State University and an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. Cartier’s work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows across the US, and she has taught studio art courses at various institutions, including Rowan University, Stockton University, and non-profit organizations in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. Since 2017, she has created over 50 grant-funded public art murals in South Jersey, garnering media attention from outlets like the South Jersey Courier Post and ABC Channel 6 Action News. Cartier continues to produce new artwork and recently opened her own independent gallery, DC Gallery & Studio, in Millville, New Jersey, featuring contemporary art by local artists and serving as a female, artist-owned gallery, maker retail space, and studio.

CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER ONE

The Humble Fern

Leila Sharafkah, Graphite and Acrylic

The Thinkers

Jiya Jagani, Photography

Giraffe

Iva Barbir

On a hot summer day many years ago, a little girl clutched her fathers hand as she dragged him across the busy street to a little hole-in-the-wall shop. She continued to drag him to a rack of stuffed animals, where she grabbed the thing she saw that was in the reach of her little hands. She held up the plushie to show her dad, proud of her find. “You ran across the street for a giraffe?” the dad said, a bit exasperated.

Lillypads

Anika Karthik, Photography

Autopsies All About

Definition: A postmortem examination to determine the cause of death

Types: Forensic and clinical

Step 2:

Note anyting unusual around the exterior of the body.

Step 5:

Observe tissue samples under a microscope.

Step 7:

Collect anything unnatural. Request additonal tests like chemical or toxicological analysis.

Consent Form

Step 9:

Some or all organs may be kept if allowed on the consent form.

Authority: Coroner, medical examiner, magistrate, police, procurator fiscal

Timeline:

Step 10:

Step 1:

Lay body on the examination table.

Step 3:

Request photographs or X-rays.

Step 4:

Cut from the collarbone to the lower abdomen. Remove some or all internal organs.

Step 6:

Cut through the scalp and skull to examine the brain.

Step 8:

Place organs back into body (forensic autopsy). Stitch and return to best cosmetic condition.

After all tests and examinations are concluded, write a detailed report.

Pink Flower

Ximena Torres, Photography

Untitled

Fiona Brashear, Graphite

Nano's Ewwe

Olivia Tumacder, Exterior Paint

This mural located in the Presentation garden intended to combine California native wildlife with parts of Presentation history all in the same theme of nature appreciation. The sign “Nano’s Ewwe” reads the name of

the Presentation garden, and translates to “Nano’s light” or “Nano’s lantern” in indigenous language as an ode to the native land that Presentation High School occupies today.

Autumn Reading

Hoai-Trang Hoang, Procreate

Boot Scoot

Kate

Kelly, Ink and Pastel

My first 2D Art piece which reminded me how much I enjoy art. Using a Zach Bryan song in the back which holds a lot of meaning for me, This is my favorite piece I have made.

History Piece

Grace McLaughlin, Ceramics

Discobubbles

AJ Fields-Rapley, Graphite

Hazy

Jiya Jagani, Photography

CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER TWO

Another Time

Sneha Arun, Photography

Untitled

Kyle Counts, Watercolor, Ink, Procreate

Anika Karthik, Photography

City Lights

This piece was taken in downtown Chicago. I found it interesting that there was unity and cohesiveness in all of the warm lighting. It was an interesting contrast with the unpredictable, chaotic nature of walking in the city.

Advice

Doodles of Life

Gladys Franco, Photogrphy, Hand Sanitizer, Ink

Meg Mulcaster, Acrylic

Lamplit Stella Pham, Photography

Split by Light

Anika Karthik,

Photography

Milan

Nour Omara, Photography

Ritika Shukla

In Case The Sky Forgot

Before stars, the night was just a stretch of nothing.

Not a scary nothing, but a soft, deep, and empty nothing— like the pause between heartbeats. People still lived under it, but they never looked up.

After all, what was there to see?

Enveloped in this nothingness, was a girl who loved a boy whose hands always carried a scent of worn cotton and cardamon—like home stitched into someone else’s skin, like a quiet warmth that never asked to be noticed, but always was. They never said they loved each other.

Instead, they just sat in silence, close enough to feel the quiet warmth between their shoulders. Some nights, they could hear the warmth while humming the same songs without realizing.

And then, one winter, he stopped showing up. The silence he left behind was louder than his voice ever was. The girl stopped humming. Her mouth knew silence like it was a prayer. She moved through days like wading through honey—slow, heavy, and entangled in the bittersweet remembrance of their shared quiet. She wrote him letters she never sent.

She told him the things that slipped through her lips too softly to catch:

I remember the way you held the air between us—silent, but always enough.

I remember the way you licked your thumb before turning a page.

I regret never saying thank you for holding my quiet like it was something worth preserving. Then one night, she climbed the tallest hill and lit the letters on fire.

Not out of rage.

Just…release.

The smoke rose, and the ash floated higher than she expected. Something shimmered above her, something loud.

A small pinprick of light. She blinked. It lingered. Someone else saw it too. A boy who missed his mother. A woman who had given up her heart to hold the pieces of someone else’s. A man who had lost his voice but kept the words locked up in his chest. They all saw the light—and heard its depth long enough to realize it remembered them too.

So they wrote their own letters. Burned them. Whispered names into the dark.

And the night listened. It kept their stories. It tucked them into the sky like a quilt made of ache and memory and love that didn’t know where else to turn.

So this is why we look up. This is why we say make a wish. Not because stars grant us anything. But because they remind us. We once loved so loudly, the sky remembered.

Toxic

O’AHU

the Heart of hawaii

O'ahu Travel Poster

Thaovy Huynh, Adobe Illustrator

From Eden Hoai-Trang Hoang, Photography

sunset in Hawaii

Nour Omara, Photography

Summertime Glimpse

Hoai-Trang Hoang, Procreate

Above the Whirlpool

Stella Pham, Photography

Taken from the “whirlpool” where water from the nearby Niagara Falls collects, creating a rush of white water.

Shaken Reality

Sneha Arunn, Photography

The blurred viewpoint is almost as if you can feel the Bridge swaying in rhythm to the pounding of cars on it.

Tiles

Scarlet Sanders, Ceramics

CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER THREE

The inspiration is my mom and I. It is about how physical touch influences the human experience.

Untitled 1

Emilia Salistra, Acrylic

Ides of March

Mia Obico, Photography

Maia Collins, Graphite and Watercolor

A portrait of myself that represents my identity and who I am.

Charlie Vega

Already Me

You call me “home” when the world feels cold, A hand to hold when his grip won’t hold. I’m your shadow, your safe place to land— But never the heart you reach for in hand.

Maria, you move like moonlight and stars, Soft on my skin, but never the same. Your eyes—bright oceans I’m lost inside, A thousand secrets they’ll never confide.

When you smile, the whole world slows, A warmth that lingers, a light that glows. It pulls me closer, it tears me apart— A curve of joy, the ache in my heart.

We share late nights, secrets that burn, I know every twist when your thoughts turn. Yet when you speak of him—soft and bright— I fade to the edges, swallowed by night.

I love you loud in the quietest ways, In smiles too fleeting, in words I can’t say. You laugh, unaware how deep I fall— A girl in love, unseen through it all.

He gets the kiss; I get the sighs, He holds your heart while I hold the lies. You tell me it’s nothing—“just a small fling”— But I’m breaking beneath everything.

And still, I stay, though it cuts me through— Because losing this hurts worse than loving you. I’ll be your best friend, your shoulder, your keeper— Even as I ache for a love I can’t chase after.

Maria, if only you could see—

The girl who loves you is already me.

Untitled 2

Emilia Salistra, Chalk Pastels

I was inspired by my cultural food and patterns.

This illustration was originally going to be used for a financial aid event to raise money for school.

Untitled

Kristelle Mateu, Procreate

Aurora

Olivia Tumacder, Watercolor, Gel Pen, Colored Pencils

Admiration

Anonymous, Photography

This photo was taken during a creative lighting unit. To me, the photo shows my deep love for those around me. Whether it be parents, pets or friends I hold everyone dear to me and appreciate the time and things people do for me.

Mana

Maia Collins, Charcoal and Oil Pastel

A portrait of a famous Japanese musician.

Mikey Purtell, Acrylic, Acrylic markers, Paper, Ink,

This piece is a mixed-media piece inspired by comic book covers! It features a character I created for a film camp, Joey Hill, and includes panels from my original storyboards where I first introduced him.

Ayla Yaklich, Photography

The Misadventures of Secret Agent Joey Hill Anxiety

To create this piece, I used manual mode by controlling the aperture and shutter speed, then ran all over the frame. I love how everything looks out of place- the best way to describe anxiety.

Los Conejos Saltarines

Anonymous, Acrylic Paint, Oil Pastel

Through a child’s eyes; what it means to be free

Ananya Kidambi, Photography

Butterfly

The Colours of Music

Araceli Refstrup Alvear, Characol, Color

pastels

Inspired by the feelings I have when I am dancing, I originally made this piece as a study, but quickly fell in love with it and decided to complete it.

Lace Motif Dress

Stella Pham, Cotton Handsewn and crocheted over 30 hours for the Life In Plaid Fashion Show

Egyptian Head

Luella Platt, Ceramics

CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FOUR

Puzzled Shoe

Chloe Cheon, Acrylic on Canvas paper

Reverting

Anonymous when i’m sick, really sick, i find myself saying: “Oh God. Help me.” i turn to a god I’m not sure i believe in. it’s just words, a simple prayer. easy points for an agnostic like me. then, i say: “Mommy, it hurts. Mommy, I’m scared.” and suddenly, i’ve reverted back to being a child, or maybe i never truly matured, but i can’t withstand what i’m feeling, so i cry and curl into a fetal position how i assume i was in the womb, warm and comfortable, an all-encompassing hug by my mother, somewhere where i was safe. but suddenly, there were fluorescent, buzzing bulbs, and faces unfamiliar even though i don’t remember, i’m sure there was the touch of blue latex, and the distinct odor of sterility throughout the room, white walls and unknown company, people i would never see again, and my first tears streaking my chubby cheeks because i was taken out of my home and i wanted back in. now, 17 years later, in a desperate attempt to recreate that comfort, i curl into my covers and i hide. if i could, i would hide from myself—but i can’t, so hiding from the rest of the world will have to do.

all i want now is to be what i used to. i want my mother to hold me, and i want to fit in her arms, but my now gangly limbs make that impossible, awkward elbows poking into her side, and she can’t rock me to sleep like she used to, she can’t lift me up and put me to bed with a kiss on the forehead, she can’t spoon-feed me mushy carrots or comforting lies, because it has all become extraordinarily complicated. it’s weird, is all. that we revert to our childish ways when we can’t stand it anymore. mommy, it hurts. momma, i’m scared. momma, please hold me, please. maybe in the hour of our death we revert to the hour of our births. or something like that. i don’t know. i’m only 17.

Backyard in the spring

Leila Sharafkah, Acrylic

Sophie Li, Acrylic

Sensory Filtration

Through the filtration of color and loss of detail as the background merges with the figure, I aim to convey the reduction of information as it is incorporated into our perception. This piece shows how the quantity of information we perceive pales in comparison to the totality of information present around us.

HOME

Rocky Sedic, LInocut, Procreate

After learning how to make prints in class, I was prompted to create a piece to advocate for social challenges, choosing homelessness. I hope more homes are created for people.

Are we on the same page?

Mikey Purtell, Acrylic, Acrylic pen, Oil pastel, Graphite

This is the largest painting I’ve ever created, being almost the size of me! It showcases how much I put into my artwork; how I find my true self when doodling in a notebook. I included a lot of elements that I feel represent who I am—such as movie quotes, a robot and sea creature arm, and my odd love for notebook paper.

She Said No

Mallory Fidrych,

Photography

This photo was part of my art as activism project in Photography III. It is based off of advocating for women, especially those that have been sexually assaulted.

Scene From Phoenix, Arizona

Cate Ennis, Procreate

A scene from a comic book called Phoenix, Arizona. The birds flying south take residence in the skies of Phoenix.

Frozen in Time

Elizabeth Durand, Photography

This was a part of a series I did on jewelry passed down through generations, focusing on capturing the natural beauty of their production. The watch and pearls in this photo we both passed down to me from my grandmother.

Beauty and the Beast

Himani Vaidya, Photography, Photoshop

This piece, inspired by my favorite movie Beauty and the Beast, combines photography and digital art. It reflects the idea that true love remains strong, no matter outward appearances.

Final Recall

Emily Kang

Title: “Final Recall”

Characters:

CASEY — 16 years old, determined, vulnerable.

JUDGE — A cold, efficient official, mid-40s.

VOICE — Disembodied, crackling overhead speaker.

A gray, metallic government room. A single spotlight shines down on a chair at center stage. A camera records everything. A long, cold desk sits in front of the chair where the JUDGE sits [Lights up.]

(CASEY steps into the circle of light, clutching a thin folder, some photographs stick out of it. Nervous.)

VOICE (overhead, metallic):

Applicant 4-1-7. Step forward.

(CASEY moves stiffly to the chair, sits.)

JUDGE (flat):

State your full name and memory petition.

CASEY:

Casey Rell. I petition to retain Memory 36-A. Title of: The first time my little brother said my name.

JUDGE (typing on a thin tablet):

Memory categorized as Low Historical Significance. Emotional weight rating: Moderate. (beat)

Proceed with your audition.

(CASEY breathes heavily. Focus.)

CASEY (soft):

It was a Tuesday. I had just come home from school. My brother (takes a shaky breath) was sitting in the living room with blocks everywhere. He looked up at me, smiled so wide his whole face crinkled and smudged with chocolate cake, and said it (Smiling through tears) “Casey.”

His first word. Not “Mama,” not “Dada” — me. (beat)

He didn’t live for much longer–about 2 years, I believe. (hides her face)

(Pause. The JUDGE doesn’t react.)

JUDGE:

Attachment acknowledged.

Explain how this memory contributes to the stability of the State.

CASEY (angry and agitated):

The State isn’t made of just rules, senators, or our leader. It’s made of people, us!

Memories are the State.

(The JUDGE tilts their head, studying CASEY.)

JUDGE:

Emotion clouds efficiency. (beat)

Final evaluation in progress. (CASEY clutches the folder tighter. Panic rises.)

CASEY (urgent):

Please. It’s all I have left of him. You can erase everything else, my birthdays, my trophies, but not this.

Not him.

Please.

(a single tear rolls off her left cheek and onto the almost too perfect floor of the senate)

(A long silence.

The JUDGE stands, walks over to CASEY, but does not touch her)

JUDGE (quietly):

We all had to give something up.

(Without ceremony, the JUDGE places a small black stamp on CASEY’s folder: DENIED.)

VOICE (overhead, cheerful):

Memory 36-A scheduled for deletion. Applicant 4-1-7, please exit. (CASEY rises, broken, screaming, begging for something, anything. But as CASEY is escorted out of the court, she subtly slips a small object, a photograph from her folder, from her pocket and tucks it inside their jacket.)

(The JUDGE notices... but says nothing, turning away from her.)

(Lights dim, leaving only the faint sound of a child’s laughter echoing as CASEY exits.)

[Lights out.]

END

Echoes of a Night Out

Allegra B. Hua, Acrylic

Well-worn shoes capture glimpses of a night out: the soft light blue and streaks of yellow, orange, and other colors on the back reflecting the glow of city lights.

WHERE THE NIGHT SHINES AS BRIGHT AS THE DAY

Cabo Poster

Aanisha Biswas-Gupta, Adobe Illustrator

Modern Day Mermaid

Olivia Tumacder, Thrifted fabric, Beads

A hand-crafted and orignal dress made for the 2025 Life in Plaid Fashion Show, highlighting sustainability (reusing existing items) and ocean themes encapsulated in a summery silhouette.

Lead Directors

Olivia Tumacder

Hoai-Trang Hoang

Stella Pham

Photography Jurors

Team Lead: Sneha Arun

Mallory Fidrych

Elizabeth Durand

Literature Jurors

Team Lead: Iva Barbir

Prajna Nair

Raime Ramanan

Mia Obico

Joana Shiners

Mikey Purtell

MEET THE MEET THE