Week 5: Midterm

Faith Over Fear

What is the subject of your image?

The subject of my image is the diagnoses I have been going through since I was a young girl, depression, and when I was 18 and became a Christian the constant battle of "faith over fear".

What is the content of your image?

My image contains a collage of different Biblical passages that I had taken out and photos of things in my life that sustain me and to help me grow as a woman in society. The surrounding elements is a painting done with acrylic paint. 

Why did you make the choices that led to the composition?

Originally I was going to create a strictly photographic collage, but as I was thinking on what to do for this project, I kept seeing painted hand prints sliding down a canvas and fire. So I decided to combine the two in order to create this piece. 

What do you think this image conveys to the views?

Pain is pain, and it can happen to anyone, from the richest and outwardly happiest person in the world, to the poorest and outwardly saddest person in the world. 

What artists have influenced your self portrait? 

One was an artist in the sense they created paintings, and one was an artist in the sense they created music. Frida Khalo has always been my inspiration in the drawings I sketch and the sculptors I create. Her sense of self very much reflected my sense of self before I started going to church and how I saw myself because of my circumstance. How she externalized herself onto a canvas without words, but with images, was intriguing and captivating. And the music group that inspired my was Flyleaf. The lead singer of Flyleaf had a similar background to my childhood, and creates her music videos to reflect faith over fear. She inspired the top portion of this creation. 

What techniques have you used to create create your self portrait?

I started out by using my acrylic paint to create the image, and then I gathered some Biblical clippings from my favorite passages and some photos from my life that keep everything into perspective and gives me faith. 

Why and how does this project represent you?

This project represents me because all my life I have been constantly looking out for myself and taking care of myself. Once I was about to turn 10 I started showing symptoms of a severely depressed individual, and by the age of 14 I was officially diagnosed. The bottom portion represents the pain of having to deal with something so life consuming at such a young age. The top portion shows the faith over mental illness aspect I was trying to convey. I covered it in Biblical texts, because those passages where some of the first passages I read when coming to understand God for myself and develop my relationship with Him. It gave me hope and sustains me the most in my faith. The photos surrounding it shows the things and people in my life that also help sustain my faith and have helped me find who I am and what I was meant to be in this life.