Self-Portrait

The concept behind my self-portrait is “change”, and represents my identity as both someone constantly going through change, and someone being reborn and constantly becoming something new from that change. In order to represent the idea of both change and rebirth, the butterfly has been used as a symbol for both, combined with a photograph.

The medium for constructing this piece will be photography and digital collage. A photo taken of myself has been edited to appear in black and white, with sharp contrast to better highlight the features of my face. However, an image of a butterfly has also been imposed on top of my face, with the color altered to have a golden, glowing appearance. The original idea was for this collage was to either be constructed by paint over the photograph, or by combining a found image of a butterfly with the photograph of my face. As an alternate idea, the photograph of my face was to be altered, either through a collage of various images of myself or a reassembling of the photo in order to create an abstract butterfly form. However, it seemed to be much more effective to reflect a more vintage look through a single photograph that was overlaid with an abstract butterfly.

The idea for this concept was conceived through various research on the cultural perceptions of butterflies throughout history. In the much more ancient times, early civilizations and tribes saw butterflies as symbols of death, or omens that death was at their door and was a symbol to be feared. Butterflies were even seen as dark spiritual energies, or even demons to be avoided. However, in later periods, cultures such Native Americans tribes had similar beliefs that butterflies were spirits, but instead represented symbols of life and death, change and joy. Some of these tribes believed that these were their loved ones sending messages to the living world that change was coming.

Reflecting from this research, the purpose of this project is to represent myself in a positive way, but also to reflect on both the light and the dark of our lives. As human beings, we have no choice but to face the changes in our lives, but we have the choice to grow through this change. By overlaying the butterfly over half of my face, this represents not only my human identity of going through change and growing from change, but also my own spiritual identity, similarly to the Native American cultures before me.  The black and white highlights my face, but also reflects the light and the dark we face everyday. The gold color in the light reflects the richness that is received through family and friends, while the weathered texture reflects how those who do not have my best interests have worn me down. However, all of this is apart of life and life’s journey, from beginning to end. Thus, this change and its inevitability is the true concept of this overall piece.