Above the Influence

This is another collage/acrylic paint multimedia piece.  I once again cut out anything colorful from bundles of magazines and collaged them together while still leaving room to paint the fish.  With this painting, I wanted to portray a similar message about outside influences; however, this piece focuses on staying true to yourself.   I know this topic has been discussed to the point where it has become a cliche, but I could not agree with it more. The collaged bits represent the influence everything around us has on us.  Although these influences help us grow, we need to remember who we really are.  The fish represent our unchanged original selves.  They are not painted on top of the collage because we are always in the mist of these influences, and we need to remember who we are.