Student 25

May 1, 2000

Various Theories of Self Expression

Since the beginning of time people have used different forms of self-expression as a way of trying to find one's own personal identity. From the days of the Romantic period to the psychological theories of Freud and Jung, self-expression has helped reflect one's most inner feelings and character traits. In art, music or free speech, self-expression can be used as a tool to help generate emotions that would usually be held back or repressed. There are many similarities, differences, and various forms of the self, and these are reflected by the many different works of art that we have studied this semester.

One form of self-expression includes the psychological theories of Freud and Jung. Freud was a psychologist that specialized mostly in suppressed sexual tendencies of the mind. His contribution to finding one's inner feelings though comes from his theories of the Id, the Ego, and the Super-ego. The Id represents our most natural instinctive impulses and untamed passions that have been repressed but come out in our subconscious personality. The Ego represents the logical side of our personality. It helps us to think reasonably and help keep our Id in balance with our other personalities. The Super-ego part of ourselves holds up the norms of our behavior. This is our conscious side to our personality, the one that holds strong to the morals one possesses. All three of these sides of one's self struggle constantly to keep in check with one another, but work together to bring out what Freud believes is the reason for self-expression. Another view of the self is the Asian practice if Hinduism. India developed what many historians refer to today as "The Empire of the spirit". This means that the religious belief is not only what you practice; it's also how you do it. The basic element in Hinduism is that one should live a good, clean life in order to achieve Karma. Karma is the accumulated sum of ones good and bad deeds. It also determines how one will live their next life. Hindu's believe that by pure acts, thought, and devotion, one can be reborn at a higher level as a reward. Hindu's strive to express themselves in a good way, and this means being good to one's self as well.

During the passionate time of the Romantic period, different works of art and music were used as self-expression. These artists were highly influenced by the exotic works of the Middle East and strived to capture that raw emotion in their own works. Expressing emotion by the artist was accomplished by being spontaneous and unrestrained. Deep, rich colors with strong contrasts also helped in expressing what the artist was feeling, like in Casper David Friedrich's painting "The wreck of the Hope".

When constructing my self portrait project, I tried to use art and symbolism to show all of the different sides to my personality. I don't think I incorporated any of these views into my project, but I did try to take what I learned from the romantic period about emotion and express that. I wanted to express myself in a way people could relate to, so I just used ordinary, every day things to compare them to my personality. I took plastic milk jug, glued on eyes, drew a nose and mouth, and painted hair to represent my outer appearance.

Then I cut the top off and put my items inside. This is supposed to show that everyone can see my outer appearance, but more on the inside that not to many people get to see unless they get to know me. The square shape of the milk jug was used to show that I have a stable, down to earth type of personality. Since it is three dimensional, this shows the complex part of my personality and that it takes a while to get to know the real me on the inside. The milk jug was transparent, so this shows that I don't hide my emotions with many people.

Inside I used symbolism with a variety of objects to help describe my personality. I used an empty bottle to help express that I tend to keep my emotions "bottled up" at times. I then used a light bulb to show the creative part of my personality. Usually when I get a good idea it's like a little light comes on inside of my head. Since I'm dependable to my friends, I used a ruler to show that I'll go to any measure to help. Next I used a sponge to describe the attentive side of my personality. I tend to absorb everything someone says because I'm a good listener. I put in a level to help show how I can be level headed at times, then I put in a match to show how easily it is to light my temper. Usually when my eyes get irritated I need to soak my contacts in solution, so I put in solution to show that whenever my friends are irritated, I'll try to help them find a solution. I included bubble wrap to show the nervous side of my personality. If I'm ever stressed out, it doesn't take much pressure to make me pop. Finally, I took a jar and put sand, rocks, and leaves to show the down to earth side of my personality.