Lakewood Ranch teen wins Congressional Art Competition

When Lakewood Ranch’s Zachary Keshish sits down to create art, it’s a short, free-flowing process.

He doesn’t like to take more than 20 to 40 minutes to work on a piece.

Keshish creates whatever comes to mind, whether that’s drawing the Joker or Batman, some of his favorite characters growing up, or creating a piece that reflects the struggles of drug addiction.

It only took Keshish 20 minutes during an art class at Lakewood Ranch Preparatory Academy last school year to create his piece “Bored,” which earned him first place in the Congressional Art Competition.

The piece will be on display for a year in Washington, D.C., in a corridor between the U.S. Capitol and the Cannon House Office Building. 

Keshish said after completing “Bored,” he approached his art teacher, Paige Aube, with a “weird confidence” about his piece that made him feel that he would place first in the Congressional Art Competition. 

Winning the competition shows him that not everything he creates is pointless, he said. He said although his pieces aren’t what some might consider beautiful, clean and poised, they are still works of art worth sharing. 

Keshish often goes into his work without a plan and simply does whatever comes to his mind at the moment. It isn’t until later that he discovers the potential meaning behind his work.

Photo by Liz Ramos

Take “Bored” as an example. He said those viewing the painting might think the face is hidden to symbolize how people’s true identities can be hidden. He said he thought people would view the stars and hearts to represent the love and hope that is so appealing along with representing the values they are taught and raised to believe. He said those viewing the work might think the black cross symbolizes religion, which he said can be another way people find their identity. 

In the end, Keshish said the piece is still meaningless to him other than he enjoyed creating it. 

“This truly didn’t have any meaning, it was all made up,” he said. 

The work is an outlet for him to distract himself from any current stress or anxiety, especially regarding his future. 

Like many, Keshish, who is a rising junior in a dual enrollment program through State College of Florida, started with art as a child using paper and crayons.

But by 10 years old, he was finding other ways to express himself and his creativity, including building replica “Star Wars” helmets out of styrofoam. 

As he grew up and began exploring other mediums, a sketchbook became a journal to him. Rather than writing down his thoughts and feelings in a journal, he would create art pieces in his sketchbook. 

“It’s a way to keep my thoughts and see what I was thinking,” Keshish said. 

Courtesy image

Keshish said he limits the amount of time he spends working on any given piece because he can have a tendency to overthink it. Often, his work comes out of a moment of boredom, which is why he brands some of his pieces with a graffiti-style “bored.”

Keshish’s father, Jason Keshish, said when his son first started making art, he didn’t see the creative aspect as art is subjective. He had the mindset of “anyone can do that.” But after seeing his son’s skills develop and learning the meaning behind his work and how it was an expression of himself, Jason Keshish said he was blown away. 

“They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and so is art,” Jason Keshish said. “He has this creativity in him. He can do complex. He can do simple and basic. It’s all just an expression of how he feels. His mom (Janelle Damrau) and I are very proud of him and thankful this is an outlet for him to be able to express his creativity and energy.”

Keshish said he never considered art as more than a hobby, but after winning the Congressional Art Contest, he’s considering what he could do with his art in the future. Although he’s uncertain whether his future will include a career directly involved in art, he said he knows he wants a career that will allow him to express himself. 

He has considered starting a brand to allow ways for people to identify with his art and potentially show his art in an exhibit. 

Much like he tries not to overthink his art, Keshish is approaching his future in the same way, trying to embrace the uncertainty of what’s to come and see the beauty to which it could lead.