If my bones won’t hold me… (Self Portrait 2023)

Self Portrait Project - entry number 6: 2023
Part of my “Prince of God” personal project where I revisit my self portrait at the end of every year, the first one being “Sariel, Prince of God” from Dec 31st 2018.
This portrait was made in February 2024 and encapsulates all of 2023, a year marked by medical enquiries and health struggles, but also a year since I had my top surgery and started taking hormones. The year I’ve been the most happy with myself in my entire life this far. The year where I learnt to be kinder to my body by recognising its limitations. And the year I’ve felt the most confident and loved. May life only move upwards from here for us all.
This work was digitally painted in procreate. Pictures of the artist (taken by the artist themselves) were used as reference for the full body painting and the eyes. This piece also includes an edited x-ray of the artist as well as an edited scan of Henry Vandyke Carter’s drawing of a vertebral column (in profile) from the artist’s own copy of Gray’s Anatomy.
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This painting has been featured in the UNCENSORED: Queer/Trans Anti-Exbition organised by the STOGGAF Queer Art Collective in Brixton, London (UK) on the 16th of March 2024.
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This artwork has been glazed to protect it from being used to feed generative AI algorithms.