Pencil crayon on paper
$100.00

Self-Portrait After the Tunnel (2024) is a pencil crayon drawing depicting the dreamlike atmosphere of my mental landscape. Through careful introspection, I have discovered a repetitive and reliable cycle between chaos and stability within my mind. In my work, the tunnel references the chaotic spectrum of this cycle, in which I feel trapped by spiralling thoughts and fears. This work combines the practices of self-portraiture and vanitas still life to speak to the seemingly transitory nature of happiness and stability outside of the tunnel. My self-portrait is ghastly and skeletal, portraying the toll of the cycle on my being while the skull and molding fruit indicate the inevitability of a return to the tunnel. The drawing is laid over a written story about the journey through the tunnel which is slightly visible through the sky. The surreal nature of the work evinces the dreamlike quality of happiness after an episode of despair.