Forgiveness
My short story narrative was about how the main character, Lamare Civics, had to struggle with the realization that he wasn't happy even though he achieved his dreams and his wife's infidelity. Wanting to show that he was strong, he forgave her, but inside, he couldn't. I chose to draw this illustration as an abstract portrayal of his internal conflict. His form is a combination of an old fashion PA speaker box and the body of a hip 25 year old San Franciscan African-American man. The center figure is solid because that is what he is projecting to his wife. But what his wife doesn't see is the two translucent forms on his sides adding the context of what he really feels.
Using the thick black border and an odd dimension of space, I wanted to capture the visual stimulation to make to viewer to also feel the absurdity of how closed in he is with his emotions. The background is a loose depiction of one of the two settings of the story, the elevator. The metallic sides and the pastel pink carpet represents his wife's clothes in the story. Even with his disgust for her, he still surrounds himself with her, using the fond memories of being together as a shell.