May 2024 Portrait of the Month — Aleksander Kuliseiwicz

Aleksander Kuliseiwicz

This beautiful portrait was created by artist Oliviannah S. at Austin High School in El Paso, Texas. In the workshop, led by the award-winning teacher Shane Wiggs, the students created portraits using a woodcut technique, leading to beautiful and striking details different from the portraits created at our typical workshops. The gorgeous detail of this portrait of Aleksander displays energy and movement, alluding to the music he made while imprisoned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

Students around the world have reflected on their experience drawing Aleksander’s portrait and learning about how he kept culture alive in the camps.

“One of the things I will definitely remember is that every individual that fell victim to the Holocaust had his or her own remarkable story. While drawing Aleksander, a stranger, I feel like I got to know a part of him.”
— Jenny B.

“He used the arts to document and speak out against the horrors of the Holocaust. His example and my experience drawing him showed me that we can use art in different ways to handle difficult times, both as a personal coping tool and as a way to combat negativity and hopelessness.”
—Samantha W.