Conceptualizing the Self as both an Artist and the Art
By Liz Mills ’25
November 2022
I am one with the belief that we are the beautiful product of every choice, every decision, and every interaction we have made thus far. The self is in a constant state of becoming, and this development is facilitated not only by ourselves, but by the world around us too. I like to imagine the self as a clay figure. We begin life as a formless block of clay, the shape we will take is not yet determined, yet the purpose of the clay is to be shaped and developed accordingly. The clay cannot remain in its formless state forever, for the clay finds its beauty in being transformed. Every choice, interaction, and experience we have creates an impression on the clay figure of ourselves.The beauty within all of this is as we go through life, we are not only the clay figure that is being sculpted, but our choices, interactions, and experiences sculpt those around us, and in turn others sculpt us. We are simultaneously the art and the artist, not just of ourselves, but everyone our path crosses with over time. In a perfect world every imprint that has been sculpted to us is one of goodness and advancement, but this is not the case. Varying choices and decisions will mark different impressions on ourselves, but this is all done accordingly. In order for the clay to develop, different textured impressions must be made. There are certain features of the clay figure which will have an intense, textured impression, while at the same time having softer, smoother impressions, all within the same figure.
This perspective of mine began to solidify when I began my journey of reading existentialist philosophy, consequently this was at the time of the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020. Existentialism conceptualizes the self as a free acting agent, yet so much of our freedom was restricted by the lockdown. Our limited access to social interaction prevented us from being molded and shaped by others. An essential aspect to the development of the self was taken away, and during these months it felt as though a negative space on the clay figure of ourselves was becoming more and more apparent. But it would be inaccurate to say during this time the self ceased to develop, because even though we were no longer being shaped by our external world, we still had the most important piece in the development of the self: ourselves.
When talking with other students my age about the effects of quarantine, many reflect on the period of immense self-development they experienced in this time. They say they feel that they “came out of it a new person,” and it’s no surprise why this happened. The COVID lockdown forced the development of ourselves to rest almost entirely in our own hands. We had no choice but to constantly be both the artist and the art, we weren’t shaped as heavily by the people and world around us, and thus the self was developed entirely by the will and imagination of ourselves. This period of time helped me learn the value in having multiple artists for one art piece. The influence and sculpting of multiple artists unto one art piece will only ever result in a beautiful, unique, captivating piece of art. The self finds its purpose in being sculpted and shaped by multiple artists, and it is only through this process that we are able to become the most complete, fulfilled version of ourselves.