Splits in the Soul 3

Thoughts

This is the third version of my psyche, or soul, the first 'Splits in the Soul' explains the concept in more detail.

This piece represents how I feel now. I feel like my survival part is dormant. Not gone, but waiting to help when needed and taking a back seat for now. The two figures represent my healthy and traumatised parts, they have each other and are stronger together. I see myself more as a whole person, which is why I wanted a sense of motion, like this is not a static state but something changing moment by moment. The static was to imply a glimpse into another world, a secret space, like a veil showing a still frame of within. My favourite part of the piece is the subtle facial expressions, showing (to me) a sense of peace.

Process

I knew in my mind what I wanted to draw, so instead of spending hours finding reference photos, I used AI to give me a mood board (see below) and then I could paint from there. Using AI in this way was a good way to make choices more consciously. After finishing the piece fairly quickly, I realised how much I wished I had a giant canvas to translate this to!