Imagination and Self-Portraits

The imagination is an incredible tool. As Fletcher describes it at times in his book the imagination is “a warehouse of facts managed by a poet and a liar”. (Fletcher 2007: p. 163) Through the imagination we can move beyond the truth into startling possibilities. Doing self-portraits in class, it was startling to me how each person had their own unique way of illustrating their partners. If we were to all draw the same person, no two drawings would be the same, and every drawing would be quite different from reality. As Fletcher mentions, anything can trigger our imagination, even the slightest line or word. This picture, drawn by a classmate, is an artistic depiction of how I looked like on the day it was drawn. Like when viewing any portrait my mind moved towards questions about what I saw, in this case myself. Using what I know now as Hellenic Imagination, my mind explored a wide variety of possibilities for the person I saw in the drawing. A superhero, an anime character, and a homeless vagrant all flashed before my eyes. Our Imaginations entertain us, give us hope, and allow us to move forward as a species to frontiers previously inconceivable. Just as Fletcher mentions how Einstein created his theory of relativity, every human being imagines their own future and all that they can possibly achieve. The imagination can lead to hope or depression, intrigue or vexation, meticulous or erratic thought. The imagination leads us down nearly all paths except that of boredom. Every art, idea, or action is imagined or imaginable before it is brought into reality. Without the an imagination providing meaning, direction, and purpose to mental conceptions we might never be able to learn anything from others. Without the imagination this drawing could never become a superhero, anime character, or homeless vagrant. Without the imagination this drawing remains just some lines on a page.

Within this picture in particular I can see parts of my persona which trigger the imaginations of others. The anime style this picture is drawn in denotes a type of fantastical, Japanese-animation inspired style. It is interesting to see the differences in how each individual person “invents something from nothing” (Fletcher 2007: p.160) when interpreting a picture. The Imagination can be both personal and shared in this respect. Personal in the sense that your thoughts are creating inexplicable images and connections exclusively within your mind, while at the same time, shared when relating those thoughts to others in a clear and understandable way.