Enrique Lerma

Per.5
03/13/17
Artist Statement
Surrealism is a form of art that began around the early 1920s in

which images are made in an unusual or dreamlike way. This projects

task was to create a surrealist self-portrait using symbols that

represented who you are as a person. The self-portrait was then

printed out on a stencil, which we had to cut to identify the positive

and negative spaces in the image. Later, the stencil was spray-painted

onto a piece of linoleum, which was glued onto our wood blocks.

Finally, we had to cut out all the white spaces that were on our

linoleum print which represented the negative space. The purpose of

this project was to make a self-portrait depicting your personality.

In my self-portrait, I included 3 symbols, which were a tree trunk,

an arrow, and a cross. The tree trunk replaced my neck and what it

meant is that I am still growing and I will get stronger and wiser in the

future. The arrow going through my head represented that although I

have been shot or hurt, I will continue being strong and fighting

because I am not a quitter. The last symbol I used was a cross, which

represented my spiritual beliefs. The cross was in between my

eyebrows and what it symbolized is that I will stay strong in faith no

matter how many times I get hurt; referring to the arrow. I searched for

artists and paintings and found some really interesting paintings from

which I got ideas for my symbols. What each symbol represents in my

 Enrique Lerma
Per.5
03/13/17
culture is that the tree trunk represents growth, the arrow represents a

warrior, and the cross represents faith in God.

I created this self-portrait because it was our task and I chose

these symbols because I felt like they were the symbols which best

described me. My portrait is about perseverance. I feel like my artwork

would best be seen in street art because that way people on the

streets can see my artwork. I would prefer to have my art on the

streets than in a museum because that way everyone can see it. What

I expect from my audience is the understanding of what my message

is, based on my artwork. My work fits in the history of art practice

because it was a surrealist self-portrait, which is a form of art made in

the 1920s.

In conclusion, I think my work best relates to the work of Frida

Kahlo, because I used the same technique as she did and I was

influenced by some of her paintings. In her artwork she would put a

message for the viewer, as did I. Frida influenced me to use the arrow

as a symbol that you had been hurt, but then the facial expression

indicated that she wouldnt give up, and I was also influenced by her

facial expression. My three symbols were a tree trunk, an arrow, and a

cross.