Christopher Moy
Repressed
Prompt: Interpretive Self Portrait: The Hardest Part of Being Still. Create a personal view with a mood in response to a them and draw a self portrait with drama.
The piece is a self-portrait, which expresses my internal perspective and emotions in a personal interpretation of the ‘hardest part of being still’. I have bipolar II depressive and traumatic stress disorders, and my piece depicts the repression of my internal trauma and turmoil. I chose ink as the medium to provide a stark contrast between its darkness and the light of the canvas. I sought to utilize negative space to portray my face as an allusion to the practiced façade which masks the dissonance of my internal suffering as represented by the left half of the face.
This portrait illustrates the trauma I repress; it captures the constant awareness of my pain and represents how I cope with it to function as an active and positive member of society. I hope through this work to bring awareness to mental health issues and struggles, as well as increase the understanding that mental disorders do not define who people are or what they can achieve.
