Student 8

May 2, 2000

Me, MySELF, and Frued

Soul, Atman, Brahman, ID, ego, superego====THE SELF!!!!

The self is one of the most important aspects of study in most all civilizations. People in many civilizations, have for years, been in "search of the self". Several psychologists, such as Frued and Jung, have devoted much of their time to the study of the self. Several religions are also devoted to the discovery of and appreciation of one's self. The self seems like the eternal striving flame of a person.

The romanticism period portrays the self in a variety of ways. The romantic literature, music, and paintings usually display the artists idea of or understanding of the self. There are seven typical characteristics that represent the author's beliefs. These characterisitcs are hints at the author's identity. The first of these characteristics is value, which shows intuition and emotion. Inspiration and tone are two other of the romantic characteristics. The tone of a romantic work shows the artist's idea of self when it is subjective and emotional. Color and subject are two more romanticism key characteristics. When color is unrestrained, deep, and rich, it shows the artist's personality. The two final key characteristics are technique and compostion. Technique thats shows contrast between strong and light shades hint at the artist's strive for self discovery. Artists in the romantic era study the self with the use of the key characteristics of romantic art.

Psychologists, such as Frued, Jung, and Rilke, devote their studies to the self. Frued is the most famous psychologist. His contributions have been studied by several followers. Frued divides the self into the three sections, the ID, the ego, and the superego. The ID is the instinctive animal part of the self. This is the part of the self that wants, wants, wants! The ego is the equalizer of the self. The ego serves as a balance between the ID and the superego. The superego is the moral aspect of the self. The super ego insists on always doing what is right.

My self portrait reflects the beliefs of Frued. My self portrait , which is divided into past, present, and future, is also divided into the ID, the ego, and the superego. The section of my past represents the ID because most people grow out of the "I want" stage. The present represents the ego because my present balances whats happened in the past and what I want to happen in the future. Finally, the future represents the superego. The future aspect of my project displays my ultimate goal of reaching heaven. This signifies the moral strength of my superego. I strongly agree with some of Frued's psychological beliefs of the self.

Jung is another psychologists who devotes much of his studies to the self. Jung believes that Frued's idea of the ego is the self. He believes in completeness and unity with the self. He also believes that opposites, such as extrovert and introvert, balance a person's self. My project subtly displays the ideas of Jung. The future portion of my project, which is a white circle, displays Jung's idea of completeness and unity. Also, the contrasting colors and textures show Jung's thoughts about opposites balancing the self. The light and dark colors are opposites. Also, the soft and hard textures are opposites. I agree with Jung's ideas of the self to a small measure.

Hinduism is a way of life focusing on the self. Some may believe that Hinduism is a religion. However, Hindus would say its simply a way of life. In Hinduism, the self is known as the atman. The atman is the eternal soul of a person. The Hindu people study to reach Veda, or knowledge, of the self. Brahman is another Hindu term for the self. To reach Brahman, a Hindu must battle with darma and kharma. When a person reaches the Veda, they unite with the godhead in what is called moksha. The search for self is the focus of Hinduism.

All over the world, in all aspects of life, the self is the most important part of a person. The self lasts eternally, after all. After taking Fine and Applied Art this semester, I look at my "self" in a sort of different way. In my portrait, I tried to display some aspects of me and my life. I divided the portrait into three sections, past, present, and future. The past represents what I have been through and who I was. The present represents what I am going through and who I am. The future represents what I want to do and who I want to be. I used shapes to display myself in the portrait. The triangles represent dreams, goals, and hopes that I have accomplished, am accomplishing, and will accomplish. I used several spirals because I have grown and changed, I am growing and changing, and I will continue to grow and change. The square represents my down to earth and practical personality. The circle is a symbol of unity, purity, and ultimately heaven. The crosses represent important decisions in my life.

The colors and texture also represent myself in the portrait. The color blue represents my belief in God. It also signifies the peace I have with myself and the world right now. Green represents my down to earth personality. Red and orange symbolize my somewhat passionate attitude. The soft, fuzzy texture represents my warm and funloving characteristics. I feel that I am caring and comforting. All in all, the portrait is a representation of what I believe myself to be after studying the different views of the self.