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The Pomegranate Journal
2022–2026
Self-portrait
Digital Photograph
The Pomegranate Journal: Chapter One
In my self-portrait series, The Pomegranate Journal, I use visual storytelling to show the moments when we feel like we are coming apart and how we find the strength to pull ourselves back together. I use the pomegranate as a symbol for the soul: it looks simple on the outside, but inside it is full of many bright, individual seeds—representing the depth of the life and the spiritual gifts God has placed within us.
Chapter One begins with me wearing a white dress, moving through a space that feels as still and peaceful as a Vermeer painting. The story starts with a break in my reality: as I look into a mirror, the reflection I see does not match what is actually happening. This leads me to pull my chair away from the center of the room and into a corner to be alone.
As I move into the shadows of the corner, I begin to physically shrink, pulling into myself. It is in this state that the "pomegranate seeds" finally appear: two other versions of me, dressed in bold red. These figures represent the various parts to the fruit of the Holy Spirit, the two parts that are remised within me and that being love and self-control; an implication of my lack of wholeness. The chapter ends with these Red Selves appearing curious and worried as they begin a conversation on how to restore me before I fade away entirely.
2022–2026
Self-portrait
Digital Photograph
The Pomegranate Journal: Chapter Two
In this chapter, the story continues with the true self dressed in white disappearing completely into herself, leaving the space entirely to the two Red Selves. They engage in a silent conversation that visually indicates a dance, but is actually a debate.
Without any words or physical contact, their movements across the space express the friction of trying to find a balance within. They negotiate how to aid my true self, arguing through their separate movements over what their individual roles and responsibilities will be in that charge. One moves with defensive urgency, while the other moves with a grounded, protective restraint, wanting to hold the pieces together and endure. They mirror, counter, and challenge each other from across the room, reasoning with the other on how to fill the void, how to make me whole and complete with the full fruit, the full pomegranate, the representation of the Holy Spirit that is filled with LOVE, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and SELF-CONTROL.
As the dance continues, they realize they cannot save me if the debate, their tango, is meaningless—they have to work in harmony.
