Rae Garcia

This artwork is a self-portrait that I created using acrylic paint. I took a double exposure photograph and edited it with different lighting effects. I used many dynamic colours in my painting as well as a variety of shapes and textures to create movement. I used all these elements of art to depict the feeling of derealization. Another goal was to create imagery that resembles water to represent internal conflicts within the contrasting shapes. The feeling I wanted to create in this artwork was bitterness, resentment, and detachment towards the ineffable. My goal for this painting was to represent these emotions within the shapes of the lighting effect that was created in my reference photo. By making everything shift and overlap, it makes the painting seem surreal. I was inspired by movies, especially ones that have beautiful cinematography like Fight Club and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. This is where the etherealism of the painting stems from. This artwork allowed me to utilize different techniques such as patterns to describe emotion, and it has influenced me to try more abstract pieces instead of just realism in the future.