Greetings fellow readers! Our first task for Miss Lisa's 2 Dimensional Design class was to create another self portrait. It's like a ritual, or a rite of passage, or something along those lines.
I've been going through a lot lately. I used to be very cheerful and enthusiastic, and strived to do my very best by thinking of unconventional solutions to create outstanding graphics. However, that bubbly side of me was just a facade. Going through Semester 1 was a very humbling experience for me... and truth be told, I'm still a bit lost. I'm still on a journey to find myself... slowly going through a dark and scary path (metaphorically.)
This portrait was created with raw honesty in mind, something that I feel represents myself, rather than something I want to impress others with. Due to the time frame, the creation of this portrait was a spontaneous and reckless process. I chose the human heart to symbolise myself because a lot of what I been through involved heartache and passion—and I could feel my heart sink, I could feel it beat faster, and I knew as long as it was still beating, I had something to live for. And one thing about the flow of blood is that it's a continuous cycle, and even though it seems like it's the same thing every cycle, you're actually going through small changes. I wrote words like 'pain' and 'self loathing' at the start of the flow, which then gradually transcended to 'joy' and finally 'love' and 'self discovery'.
I used dried leaves to create a mosaic like texture because I believe memories are like leaves. You have to cherish your moments while they're still happening, and when it's over, it'll be there for a long time. You can press dried leaves and they can last for ages, or just leave it there as it slowly decays. But the thing about dried leaves is that they last much longer than green ones. Here's to an amazing Semester 2!
— Hidayah
