I usually
like to do portraits, but have always disliked doing self-portraits. So, when I
first started to think about how I was going to do this project, I knew that I
was not going to be drawing myself. Instead, the first thing that came to mind
was a turtle to represent a side of myself that doesn’t show in my busy
day-to-day life. I have always admired sea turtles for their peaceful and
simple lives. I have been a certified scuba diver for seven years and love to
dive with them and watch them glide through the water with the amount of grace
that I aspire to have. My mom is from Hawaii and my family and I spend a lot of
time there. I love walking on the beach and finding them napping on the sand. I
want to be able to live the life of a turtle: swimming in the ocean and
lounging on the beach. However, this desire contradicts my career path that I
have wanted since I was a child. I want to be a chef and restaurant owner and
will have to work extremely hard to reach my goal of owning a successful
restaurant. I would not be able to do this by swimming and sleeping all day.
When I am in California and in school, my life is so fast-paced. Juggling six
classes, 25-hour work weeks, a social life, and fitness doesn’t leave much room
for relaxation. Going to Hawaii is when I am able to relax and live a different
lifestyle. When I am older and no longer working, and hopefully after I’ve had
a successful career, I want to be able to live like a turtle.
During my
research for this project, I looked mostly at Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits for
inspiration. Her use of animals to represent things or people of her life is
similar to what I wanted to accomplish in my piece. Additionally, she filled
the background space with nature scenes that represent certain aspects of the
message of the self-portrait. For example, Kahlo has used monkeys in the
background as a symbol of protection. The links that I have included are to
websites that analyze the symbolism in some specific self-portraits. One of the
links is to her website that has many articles written about her self-portraits.
Five of the
images that I have included are self-portraits by Frida Kahlo. I focused on the
ones that include animals because I knew that I wanted my self-portrait to be
of an animal. I also looked at two images that didn’t have a figure in them and
showed items that are representative of the artist. They both show a collection
of items that the artist found important, maybe because they used the items a
lot or because they were favorites of the artist. The last three images have a
figure in them but also include other things in the pieces. One shows a cat
which may imply that the artist loves cats or thinks of herself as a cat. The
other two show a figure surrounded by patterns or items that may be important
or represent parts of the artists’ life.
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