Performing my self-portrait was a particularly unique experience for me. I didn’t imagine that I would be so uncomfortable and as nervous as I was. I expected to be a little anxious and scared but never to the extent that I felt when it was time for me to portray myself in front of the class. I don’t consider myself a very introverted person, so I had a false sense of bravery that quickly dissolved once the silence fell and almost 20 pairs of eyes beamed up at me. Thinking about my experience, it amazes me to see how fellow classmates who come off as a little more introverted than I am found the courage to perform or present to us in the way that they did.
The person that I filmed was Prima. Her presentation in my opinion was very interesting and revealed a lot about her character. She requested that everyone come close to where she was working and while that would’ve drove me into a panic attack, the more intimate setting seemed to relax her as she cut the different pieces of herself apart and then put them back together again. Before she even started it was a beautiful piece of art but as one of my colleagues expressed after her presentation, just watching her cut out the pieces of paper was mesmerizing. Her portrait gave me the impression that she is a very articulate person and while very exact and logical, she is also very creative. All of the bright colors made me feel that maybe there is a more outgoing side that she doesn’t normally convey in the classroom and the fact that there were so many different colors, shapes and sizes told me that her personality is very multifaceted. There are different traits and experiences that make her who she is and though they all may be different, each part is a contributing factor to what makes Prima, Prima.
Our presentations were very different but also in a way, very similar. She decided on a more intimate setting and was stationary throughout her portrait, while I moved a lot around the room. That alone says so much about the type of people we are. I am a very haphazard person who goes from idea to idea constantly while she may be a more stable minded person who sticks to one thing and focuses on it. In spite of that obvious difference, we both included a more personal element by creating the prop or props that we used during our performance. I’m actually not sure exactly what this means about a persons character. Maybe it says that we enjoy the childish element in our lives or that we are both very hands on and practical.
All in all I really enjoyed watching all of the self-portraits that I saw and I learned things about my classmates that I honestly did not expect. It is interesting to discover the deeper layer of the personalities of people you see everyday and would not be able to gather from your normal, everyday reactions. I learned more about myself and that with people there is always more than what you outwardly see.
-Yasmin (Blog A)
