Ambition is the Last Refuge Before Failure

Will, Ambition is the Last Refuge Before Failure, Sense of Self Online Exhibition 2025 | The Courtauld.
Will, Ambition is the Last Refuge Before Failure, Sense of Self Online Exhibition 2025 | The Courtauld.

Will, aged 17

Using myself as the subject I try to embody the themes of Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait within this piece: personal struggles fought internally, physically manifested as fragmented pieces of my face emphasised by the change in texture. The rest of the piece has symbolic meaning: the wing to represent one’s own ambition, the multiple faces representing personalities, and the kintsugi lines drawn from Japanese art to show inspiration.

 

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