Through a self-portrait, illustrate a social/political issue. 

This piece is inspired by digital escapism, a process becoming more and more apparent in adolescence and young adults with mental health concerns. Digital escapism is like "internet addiction" that makes people distort their reality temporarily to appease stress, anxiety, depression, etc. For this piece, I wanted to demonstrate my own personal experience in the cycle of digital escapism. Stressors that influence my well-being tremendously are school workload, the climate crisis, and the pandemic– these are in the left background of the piece. On the right sight of the background, there is the infinite space of the internet represented with black forms and glitch marks. 

The overall message of this piece is that digital escapism is only a temporary fix to lasting problems. The internet and social media addiction will only push off issues/stressors instead of confronting them straight on. Additionally, side effects of digital escapism on young minds can be consequential through the distorted reality of the real world with the digital world. Younger audiences are becoming more obsessed with the short-term relief social media and the internet brings that could make them forget or lose track of what is happening outside in the real world.