Interpretive Self Portrait

This artwork was in the Drawings and Prints section of the MET

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to look at each component of the painting especially the head and decided to make my self-portrait as a side portrait of me with an enlarged brain and heart outside me. The connection between the brain and heart shows how I listen to both and whatever is inside me comes out as a combination of the two and thus representing who I am.

I further decided to use the concept of paper cutouts to enhance my artwork. To represent my brain matter I made squiggles that represent constant thinking while the motif of heartbeats represents my art. In the main artwork, Johnson shows the natural beauty of the African American women and he wants to show them to the American Negro women themselves and not so much to the whites. Therefore I decided to show not only my physical features but also what I felt inside aka my emotions.

My final work consists of two colors, green for the brain and red for the heart which are two complementary colors representing opposite emotions.