Self-Portrait 02 // (dualism)
as an artist, I believe that we as creators are translators. what we feel within the depths of our souls is a language that cannot be seen or explained by the physical world. THIS – is how I define art.
__self-portrait__
what started as an exercise to challenge my self image through the mind and theories of Picasso (self-portrait 01), quickly turned into a deep dive of how I am to view myself through the eyes of Jesus Christ. I am not a picture. I am not a body. I am not skin. I am a son of God, carrying a spirit of Christ within me. In the words of Rick Rubin, “everything we make, can be a reflection of who we are in that moment of time.” — no matter what we make as an artist, it is in some way shape or form reflecting who we truly are beyond the surface of our skin. The goal of this piece, however, isn’t to push the agenda of the Christian belief on it’s viewers, but rather challenge the image they put onto themselves, and look within to see who they really are outside of their bodies.
__dualism__
described by 17th century French philosopher René Descartes, dualism is the belief that our souls and bodies are two completely separate entities working together to form the physical world we live in. in other words, Descartes is stating that there is a spiritual realm that we cannot see, but instead can feel. this separate spiritual realm is what we translate as artists through our work.
things we feel, being reflected from our intangible beings into physical space. essentially, we are a robot, and our soul’s are controlling it.
__existence__
I chose these words to describe the story of how I create, reflecting my creative process through music, dance, and visuals. “Existence” is day to day life. Everything seems a bit bland, with nothing really going on within myself. Personally, this existence phase can last a day, or months. I feel as if I have no control on when it begins, or ends. It’s through these phases of simply existing, however, that I store memory and feelings. These memories and feelings build up, and are stored deep within myself. Eventually, at some point, I feel this storage of information begin to overflow within my soul. At this point, emotions begin to take over. Once fully filled with emotion, transilience occurs.
__transilience__
A sudden, abrupt change. This is the moment I begin to create, and create from a place deep within my own emotions. This sudden change sparks an intense feeling of motion, and inspiration. A translation has begun.
__process__
Throughout my time as an artist, my creating process tends to happen quickly, in an eruption type of manor. I often find myself dragging on a design, painting, video… whatever I am creating at the time, I hit a block and feel stuck. Until, it happens. I find something, feel something, see something, hear something, and I immediately say to myself, “there it is.” – once this moment happens, the thing I’m working on may only take a few minutes.
__deliverance__
This is the moment of fresh air. “It is finished” (John 19:30) – the intense emotions I have felt through this creative process are lifted. I feel healed. I feel fresh. A weight has been lifted. I am free, and new. It is finished.
__reflection__
A continuation of deliverance, reflection is a time of growth, and newness.
From here, the cycle begins over again.
it’s through the theory of dualism that I am expressing my self-portraiture. through this concept, I’m giving the audience a glimpse of my soul, and the realm I feel within, rather than my physical features. through my thoughts and feelings I translate into physical space in a way that people of the physical world can understand and relate to.