The project is composed of three illustrations, each with its title, representing different stages of self-awareness and inner growth: from self-care through knowledge, to the transformation of pain into dance, up until the affirmation of one’s own existence and value without depending on external approval. All together, these artworks narrate the journey of who confronts and overcomes internal conflicts, choosing to live authentically, without fear and without silence.
Take Care
This illustration represents the process of knowing and becoming aware. “Taking care” does not only mean protecting, but also understanding and knowing profoundly, through actions that imply effort towards others and the self. The moon, symbol of introspection, reflects the connection between self-healing and inner growth.
Dancing the Pain Away
In this artwork, two foxes dance with each other looking in each other’s eyes and surrounded by dried-up flowers, symbolising that pain can be transformed through movement and expressiveness. Dancing through pain can be an act of resistance, of connection with the self and the other, accepting the transformation that comes with vulnerability.
Exist Without Approval
The third Illustration explores the concept of liberation and self-affirmation of one’s own being. A black swan rises in the middle, enveloped by two white swans, representing the contact between individuality and external expectations. In the lower part, a bare-chested figure, with top surgery scars, gives off a strong message of acceptance of one’s own body, visible and fearless.
The stars and the black swan symbolise uniqueness and the strength gained by non-conforming.
