by Madison McCaslin

I placed my self portrait below the person depicted in the water, with his head facing upwards toward the sky. I liked the idea of having myself be a reflection of this image, as the idea of coming up for air from water was worth exploring. To further this idea, I layered an image of Hokusai’s The Great Wave painting, so as to represent a feeling of a wave cresting over me. 
I arrived at this idea because I have been feeling very overwhelmed with my exam work, and did indeed feel like there was a sort of wave threatening to fall on me at all times. My desire to do well, in combination with the necessity of keeping my grades up so as to impress my parents and my college, hovers over me at all times.