Long before Nneka Jones ever threaded a canvas, seeds were sown. As a child in Trinidad and Tobago, she often watched her mother create handmade garments for local markets – unaware the basics of her future craft were being revealed.

As Jones grew up she explored her own creativity, which led to the day she won first place in the Caribbean with her final high school project. “I realized there could be potential for me in the art world,” she tells WorthWhile. The accomplishment also inspired her journey to the University of Tampa where she planned to focus on hyperrealistic painting. During a faculty show, Jones was impressed by the photograph-like work of a professor whose class she immediately signed up for.

Her plans were taking shape, but soon fell apart beautifully when the professor told students they couldn’t use just paint, but rather any mix of different mediums they chose. Jones turned to the sewing and embroidery techniques she learned from her mother and began to find her artistic voice. “I think something just clicked,” she says. “I also discovered I wanted to not only tell stories but inspire thought and change.”

Today, Jones’s voice speaks on behalf of social issues, often advocating for the protection of women and girls of color. One example is “Modern Renaissance,” part of a series celebrating the re-births and identities of human trafficking and sexual abuse victims. “They are coming back to life,” Jones says.

After stretching and stapling the canvas herself, Jones sketched facial features from images of different girls in order to tell a collective story through a single portrait. She then threaded a combination of yarn and embroidery thread into the canvas using her sketch as a guide. Applied with acrylic paint, the portrait’s orange, oval framing provided the final touch.

The piece won Best of Show at the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, adding to the worldwide attention Jones continues to attract. Her work has been featured in TIME magazine, Forbes and The Washington Post, among others. To learn more about this young artist, visit artyouhungry.com.