Self-Portrait

My second assignment for my art class was to take a self-portrait and create an artist statement. My first assignment was a lot of fun, but I was really excited about this one. I hope you like it, too!

A Solitary Combination (2013): Emily

I am Emily Rebekah: an individual, independent of others. Despite this, I have found that those who surround me also shape me: my closest relationships and mere acquaintances. I have always believed in the power of relationships, in how they can simultaneously break and heal you. Even at a young age, I could see pieces of other people imbedded in me. The phrases I said, the way I walked, the thoughts in my head. Yet I could still tell who I was underneath all of the influenced behaviors, who I would be even if I were solitary.

I now find myself for the most-part independent. I am a twenty-one year-old full-time college student with two jobs; I live over a thousand miles away from my immediate family, and over eight hundred miles from the man I love. However, I am still dependent on others. I love having three roommates who I consider my best friends. I hate that my family moved away from me and that we might not spend holidays together. I am deeply shaped by the absence of my boyfriend. We have been together for four years, but distance has separated us for three and a half years. It has been a constant emotional battle of trying to be “strong”, realizing that this time is good for us to grow independently, and also knowing that it is okay to want to be with someone else so badly it hurts.

My self-portrait is a combination of two pictures which shows the two “sides” of me. I am a solitary being, alone and independent of others. I am my own person with my own thoughts, emotions, and feelings. I can stand on my own, knowing that I do not have to rely on others for personal happiness. However, I am always open to letting others into my life. I crave the closeness of other human beings, of facilitating relationships. I am always waiting for my other half to someday join me and to lie by my side. That side of the bed will always be open to him, because together we make the perfect combination.