"To create is to resist, to resist is to create," said French diplomat Stéphane Hessel. German philosopher Karl Marx similarly declared, "Things do not have to be the way they are."

Yet, more than five thousand years after the first civilizations emerged, the 21st century remains a world of social injustice, economic violence, racist neo-imperialism, political depravity, sexist patriarchy, and environmental destruction. Art should not exist solely for aesthetic purposes—it must carry a deeper message and call for action. The works in the "Let’s Start A Revolution" series confront some of the most pressing issues of the 2020s.

While all pieces reflect these serious problems, some go further, directly calling for active change. The goal of each work is the same: to expose an issue, compel the viewer to reflect, and inspire them to seek solutions—solutions they can then apply in practice, according to their abilities and circumstances. Because for real change to happen, as many of us as possible must take action.

We must rise together against injustice, lawlessness, hatred, and violence—first at the local level, then connecting and expanding globally. We must reject the demagoguery and xenophobia that have spread through social media and populist politics, poisoning relationships across society. We must dismantle systems that concentrate wealth and power in the hands of the few and establish fair rules where the richest contribute their share to society. We must remove governments that foster ignorance and hatred while enacting policies that serve only the elite.

We must put an end to homophobic, racist, and neo-colonial practices that exploit and oppress entire populations, refusing to acknowledge our fundamental equality. We must dismantle the patriarchy, which continues to disadvantage and impoverish women—denying them education and autonomy in some parts of the world, reducing them to servitude. We must stop the ruthless destruction of nature by multinational corporations that ignore the fact that we are driving our planet toward environmental catastrophe.

We must be loud. We must resist. We must protest. We must take action to transform our systems and societies—because if we don’t, nothing will change, and soon, humanity will destroy itself along with the planet.

As a result, I strive to resist and create, create and resist—to contribute to change. Because things do not have to be the way they are. Change is always possible, no matter how impossible it may seem.

Adria Marxia, 2022