The Smile
A self portrait primarily made using experimental practice with the risograph inspired by my creative writing piece “The Smile.”
The Smile
A wide grin of teeth can be seen
Glistening in the mouth of any child.
Your smile is so pretty, they said,
Cricked and wild as it may be
Eventually, any child begins to lose
Their teeth, as to make room for the new
Adult ones, which they said
Is all apart of growing up
The youthful smile becomes less
Charming to them, the teeth are only
Seen as yellow and awry
That simply won’t do, they said
And so the teeth sit behind bars of metal,
So the molding of the child’s
Mouth may take place,
You should whiten those teeth, they say.
The teeth are hidden by the walls of metal
And again by the lip – the child no longer smiles
Like they used to – why do they not?
They wonder, wanting the smile to
change, but also not change at all.
One by one, the teeth will break free
Not the same as it once was, but carrying
The same glow it once did.
My teeth are no longer prisoner
To my lip, I say.
The poem this self portrait is inspired by can be seen to the left
“A wide grin of teeth”
Line 1
“Carrying the same glow”
Lines 22-23
Process
I was lucky enough to be able to receive feedback from my classmates in my First Year Research Experience Methods of Design Inquiry (FYRE MODI) class. These images include both some of my process as well as the feedback I received in the form of sticky notes from my peers.
