This self-portrait is made on reclaimed plywood, measuring 91cm x 61cm. The surface is raw and worn, carrying its own history, which felt important to me. I wanted the work to feel layered — like memory itself.
The silhouette is my own. Inside it, I’ve collaged images from an old children’s Bible that was read to me repeatedly when I was young. These stories — of crucifixion, sacrifice, punishment, miracles and catastrophe — filled my imagination as a child. They fascinated me, but they also frightened me.
By placing those illustrations within my head, I’m acknowledging how deeply those narratives shaped my early understanding of the world, morality, fear and faith. The dramatic imagery becomes a psychological landscape — the architecture of a childhood mind trying to process ideas of sin, suffering and divine authority.
The blue surrounding the figure creates a quiet, almost contemplative space, while the torn edges and exposed wood suggest erosion, rebuilding and reclamation. This piece is about confronting those formative fears and reclaiming them — taking ownership of the stories that once unsettled me and reshaping them as part of my identity rather than something that controls it.
