Self Portrait

Rosa Garcia, Gits and Shiggles, 2017

In “Gits and Shiggles”, my subject matter is my brain. I have anxiety and depression and the biggest problem is being positive through it all. I decided to put how I feel my brain works.So in the words of my friend who saw this: “ lol it looks like what I imagine the inside of your head looks like”.

All the colors are what I see on a daily basis blurred, patchy, and bright. The cats are what makes me happy and calm. I added images of anime because it's a funny anime and one of my favorites. I decided to add my sense of humor by words and adding images on images. I already had this idea in my head the moment the assignment was assigned but it came out different than what I expected. It came out weird and colorful and messy which makes sense. It follows my personality on a good day and I wanted to remind myself that through the anxiety and depression there is still light. I added symbols and small drawings and things you have to look to find for example the kitten on the bottom is following a laser pointer. I decided to add a bit of texture like in my hair because I have a tendency to play with and damage it a lot. I also include some keywords like dump because I love poop jokes and a cough drop wrapper so for in the moment I'm becoming sick which is often there is random strings because I'd make bracelets but also because I play with it. I decided to do this because in the month of February I am at my worst. I don't see these colors and I don't tend to be calm. I am always in a terrible place but I push through.

When people see this image I believe they see colors and cats mostly. I believe they'll think it's a self portrait for the love I have for cats and just how random it is.

Hannah Hoch (Made for a party) and Frida Kahlo was my main inspiration for the collage. I wanted to be weird and unproportioned. Hannah Hochs images were what I wanted and colors were Frida Kahlo. I went with paint because it dries differently than it would with marker or pencil. It adds more texture and I always love playing with strokes because I can be neat or messy.

How this image represents me is by how weird it is. The title itself represents me “Gits and shiggles”. I'm all over the place and my life consists of “git” times and giggles. I think not many people talk about mental illnesses(don't like the words specifically) but I am quite open about what happens in my life and how I feel. I don't know how to really explain how it represents me.