Creative Self Portrait

 

  

  In this self portrait, I feature two sides of myself, the part that is openly displayed to others and the parts of me that are a little bit harder to see at first glance. On the left side, I wrote a letter about myself, detailing out things that popped in my head as defining character traits (however obscure they may have seemed). I then used this text and warped it in the outline of my face, and then added on a few of my defining facial features.

    However, I did not depict my eyes on the left side, choosing instead to represent them on the right with the blue/grey splotch; each hue in the gradient taken from two different pictures of my eyes in different lighting. Because eyes are often referred to as “the windows of the soul,” I decided to place them on the right side of this image as a sort of bridge between the two sides. The second abstract image on the right side is done in the colors of the bisexual flag. Other small details that I placed on the right include succulents and flowers to indicate vitality, growth, and my love of plants. The tea cup indicates my desire to make people feel warm and comfortable, and in return my desire to be warmed and comforted, as well as my simple love of tea. Drinking tea is a form of sustenance both physically and for the soul, so I used the word “alive” to create it, reminding myself to sustain myself and to do things that fill me emotionally. I included the Hawaiian islands, as I feel that my home shaped who I am. I also included a book- specifically The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

    The snake is an animal I often use to represent myself- admittedly, partially because I’m a huge nerd and a Slytherin. However I also view snakes as an animal that is ambitious, resourceful, and cunning which are traits that I largely admire and wish to embody. Growing up, I always hated my handwriting, but I’ve grown to appreciate it and accept it as part of who I am (someone once said that handwriting is the visual equivalent of someone’s voice and I thought that was really cute), which is why I decided to prominently display my signature at the bottom of the image.

    When I was brainstorming this project, I was having a bit of a bad brain day, not for any particular reason but it was still not fun. For this reason, I created the artwork that I needed: one that is affirming and validating as can be seen by the words used throughout the work. I’m learning how to be kinder to myself, and I feel that creating this self-portrait was a good step in the right direction.