Jelly Bears: A Junior Self-Portrait Diptych by Kayla Stacey (2013)

In my diptych, I focus on my inner feelings that people could not see on the outside. The photo on the left, the multicolored jelly beans represent the many voices in my head that make everything seem chaotic. Having the jelly beans in a constricted container gives the idea that they’re all in my head but it is comforting to know that it is where they are supposed to be that helps me make the right decisions in life. The vibrant colors of the jelly beans show that they cannot be ignored. My photo on the right is of a teddy bear holding cotton balls. The teddy bear is purple and I view purple as the color of depression. He’s holding cotton balls because they are soft and comforting and it is what I like to do when I am feeling down.

To create my images, I first went to multiple different stores and restaurants to see if they had some sort of gumball machine. After going to about 6 different places, I found myself in Diddams taking pictures of the jelly beans. I had a difficult time taking the pictures because they were high up and it was hard to be on my tippy toes for so long. Also, the lights on the ceiling are reflecting off of the plastic. I had to take pictures from different angles to try and get the least amount of light streaks as possible. The teddy bear on the other hand was a lot easier to capture. I put the cotton balls in a way to make the photo more interesting to look at. In the end, I had 75 photos to choose from. I went through them all and narrowed it down to my top 6 then put them together using Photoshop.

My photos connect with each other by the amount of color thats popping through the picture. The jelly beans represent the thoughts and feelings just like the cotton balls.