Trapped In Paradise | A Mixed Media Art Project

Have you ever felt the pressure of being good? Doing good? Saying the correct things? Always nice and polite? Always staying in your lane? Never disrupting the orderly? Perfection!

To accomplish this, one must follow the path chosen for you. Staring one way only, never venturing off the good path. A sort of tunnelvision if you must on the yellow brick road to perfectionism.

Pressure can come from different direction. Internal pressure we place on ourselves; and external pressure from others or society as a whole.

Does this pressure prevent us from unleashing our true selves? Sometimes I delve into my past to determine what pressures, if any, molded my present self.

One such pressure I felt was the need to succeed. As long as I can remember as a child, even in elementary school, I have been driven. It's part of my no-nonsense personality I believe. I can't recall exactly when it began.

I do recall failing the first grade. Back then, it wasn't a requirement that children attend pre-school or kindergarten. Since our family didn't have an abundance of resources, I can only imagine that the decision to keep me and my siblings from those programs were related to our finances.

Sometimes you may wonder whether your success or material acquisitions once achieved brings you true happiness. You finally reached a sort of paradise. But is all well within your body, mind, and soul?

I discovered in later years that it's a sense of freedom, family, and my own decisions on my personal directions in life.

I share with you in art my version of this theme.

For my current mixed media art project, I envisioned a beautiful but suspenseful theme of being trapped in a beautiful place or state of mind and wanting to escape.

The images I collected below assist in pulling together an ethereal atmosphere that contrasts pleasant versus harshness. The inside is lovely as compared to the outside, which is desolate and harsh. Decisions will have to be made whether to stay or venture out into the unknown.

^{Dark gothic woman fantasy portrait ~ Abstract Art ~ Generative Art created by me titled "Hidden Mountain-Green" ~ Red tree limbs contributed to the #LIL by @onyechi ~ Pure Fractal created by me titled "Strings" ~ Pure Fractal created by me titled "Silver Bowl"}