Forest of Faces

This was the final for my art class. One of the options was that we were supposed to do something personal to us, an abstract self-portrait. This was mine.
This represents where I am at this moment in my life: confronted by change and the unknown. Everything is murky and the people are rooted to the spot and armless because in every change you leave something behind. They can't come with me and they can't really place me anywhere that I don't go myself. The murky figures that can't be seen are all people I have yet to meet. And it is a bit of a scary piece because change, good or bad, is always a little scary.

This is what I told the class for my final. I think it came out well, even though I had some issues with the charcoal paper. It made it all grainier than I'd hoped and streakier.

Charcoal on paper