The Traumatic Experience Of  Childhood

In art class, I’m able to express my feelings openly. We began this project of self-portraits inspired by Basquiat. My self-portrait is called “The Traumatic Experience of Childhood.” I represented not only a personal issue but a social one that happens to many children. We’re forced to grow up which affects us and our decisions as we grow and the people we meet. Due to this, we’re forced to mature. The personal symbols I drew were a teddy bear, building blocks, and hopscotch which represented child-like items but some were crossed out to represent the purity missing. The person with the red eyes represents the darkness, which is another version of me convincing myself to grow up. The person in red is me consuming these words trying to deny myself growing up. The colors were bright to represent childhood; red represents anger and fear while black represents darkness.