Ok, so as far as a metaphor goes, i'm not sure howww closely i will touch on that, but i really wanted to talk about this piece, so i am going to try and relate it as much as possible to the assignment. I created this piece out of frustration. I was feeling artistically drained and uninspired at the time. That happens to me a lot it feels, because i never take a break to sit and reflect on other things. i constantly googogogogogog. Anyways, i was in an setting where i felt like all the art i produced and all the art others came up with was meaningless and void of purpose other then a technical exercise. One day my class went to a nature lab to draw dead animals. As i looked at the butterfly i was drawing encased in a glass box, i could relate to the feeling it could of had. Yeah i know, what sort of feelings can a dead butterfly have? or other dead animals in there...? they are dead! well, they weren't to me if that makes sense. They felt constricted within the confines of the dull wooden walls. They were there to serve a purpose of being stared at and meticulously copied. I could relate to that... well not the copied part. The more i drew the dead butterflies and other species the more i felt united with them. Together we were trapped in this stagnant place. When my teacher told us to make a collage with these photos, i knew i had to break from the bubble i felt caged in. While others sat around and chatted about their plans of artsy fartsy collages i racked my brain for something new- something fresh. Something to break away from what i was doing. Break away. that was it. I wanted to take my drawings and unleash them into city school i had grown to detest. I wanted to take something like a boring butterfly drawing and personify it. I wanted to take them and put them in a totally different context then they were use to being seen. I decided to take the drawings and turn them into a living breathing vessel. I went to kinkos and blew up/shrunk and copied hundreds of my drawings. I bought bottles of mod podge and white paint. People that i told were confused as to what i was doing, but i did not want to take the time to explain. I had a plan and nobody would alter my path. I found the perfect model. someone totally comfortable in his skin, well maybe a little too comfortable. I started to rip the pictures and collage them on his body with glue. it took hours to get it just right but when i was done i had created this new living breathing creature. i took paper and graphite and gave it life. i took dead butterflies and insects and gave it a pulse. I unleashed it into the town. I followed this creature around documenting his every move. He was not to talk. He was to live in the moment of being this creation. He was to forget about who he was and think about who i had transformed him into. Peooples reactions were incredible. Smiles, confused looks, anger, giggles. I saw it all. People pulled over to get pictures with my creature. They honked, drove in circles, everything you can imagine. I felt vindicated when it was over. I had broke through my artists block. I created something that gave a collage and boring studies more depth and new life.