by Michelle Isaacs
Our 2021 PEPS Pumpkin Carving Contest was a very spirited competition among our various PEPS research labs, which submitted creative, prideful, and meticulous works of art.
This year's voting was done both in person and online to accommodate our fellow colleagues who are working from home. To support a local farmer, we used our enhancement Foundation Account to purchases pumpkins from Aloun Farm.
We truly appreciate all the participation and support from our faculty, staff, and students to make this year's event a successful one, and we congratulate the 2021 PEPS Pumpkin Carving Contest Winners!
1st Place! Hanul Seo in Mohammad Arif’s lab
"I chose to carve a devil inspired by cherubs/angels depicted in medieval art,” says Hanul. “They often appear with the four heads (lion, ox, eagle, man) of the four living creatures mentioned in the book of Ezekiel. The pose with the hand in blessing and the orb is commonly found in portraits of royalty. [I find that] cute, quaint, funny, sexy, or superhero Halloween decor and apparel is nice, but it makes things less scary, so I decided to embrace tradition and do my best medieval woodcut interpretation of Satan to provide some balance."
2nd Place! Alexandra Kong in Michael Melzer's Lab
"We wanted to make a jack ‘o lantern that would capture the spirit of both Hawaiʻi and Halloween, so we decided to make a headless horseman – but on vacation in Hawaiʻi. In one hand, he is holding his pineapple head while he gives us a shaka with the other hand."
3rd Place! Jia-Wei Tay's Lab
“The PEPS Prison ‘captures’ a whole other side of our acclaimed faculty!” J
4th Place! Mark Wright's Lab
“A praying mantis eyeing up its next meal: a caterpillar!”