Anna-Marie Zhang

For my metaphorical self-portrait, I wanted to create a piece representing an impactful event that happened to me during the summer of 2021, which was my mom passing away. I decided to include the cranes and the necklace because those items are, what I consider to be, the most closely connected to the event. For my high school senior project, I created an installation of 1000 paper cranes as a way to wish my mom a quick recovery from her sickness and good health. Additionally, my mom was the one who taught me how to fold origami cranes. As for the necklace, it was something I received a few days after my mom’s funeral, and I wear it to remind myself that she is always with me. As I was drawing, the process became quite reflective, and I continued to dwell on my own emotions about what happened, even though it had been many, many months since then.