The Dark/Going Blind

By Maria Soboleva
Colored pencil
8.5 x 11 in

This drawing was inspired by a horror story I was told where my friend started going blind in one eye after a shot. I started thinking about going blind and how that would change my world as well as my thinking. As a visual artist I rely on my sight for all of my process. I rely on color and form everyday. Without visuals inspiring me, I wondered if my mind would go silent too. I decided to create a self portrait, half surrounded in darkness and half in overwhelming colors and thoughts. I chose to use colored pencil because I wanted a ton of colors and details. The bright shapes and patterns on the right side of my face are inspired by the visuals of my world. The growing dark to the left can represent not only blindness, but depression, dementia and any other mental illness that destroys creativity and weighs you down every day.