Degredation: A Junior Self-Portrait Diptych by Kyle Knochenhauer (2013)

My Self-Portrait Diptych is a story of how while something can be demolished, in the end, it can turn out better than it was before. On the left shows a match burning, and on the right shows a pencil surrounded by pencil shavings.

The match was inspired by the line in my poem ''depicting the screaming of fire''. The match represents the fact that nature can be cruel sometimes. For instance, a forest fire is one part of nature that everyone wants to live without, but after the fire plants grow back again, better than they were before.

The pencil is a metaphor for persevering and getting better at your skills, inspired by a line in my poem ''I now know you can’t walk through life with ease.'' Getting better at things is very hard, especially if you are already good at them, and it isn’t always easy to persevere, but it’s worth it in the end.