Abstract portrait series: Faces of becoming

By Monicartist

Some journeys are not about healing. They are about remembering.

Faces of Becoming is a portrait series that explores the quiet, powerful evolution of womanhood — not as a linear transformation, but as a layered remembering of self. These women are not captured in moments of fragility or recovery; they exist at thresholds — between who they were, who they are, and who they have always been beneath expectation.

This series was born from my fascination with identity as something fluid, elemental, and deeply human. Each face reflects a different state of becoming — not a destination, but a moment of recognition.

From Emotion to Element

Unlike my earlier figurative works, which often focused on healing, softness, and sanctuary, Faces of Becoming steps into a more mythic and assertive feminine presence. These portraits are not asking for permission to exist. They stand firmly in their own emotional authority.

Each woman carries an elemental quality — storm, bloom, flame, sun, wind — not as symbolism alone, but as lived experience. Emotion becomes landscape. Identity becomes atmosphere.

Tears turn to gold. Gardens crown the unseen. Fire becomes a mirror. Light radiates from within. Dreams are cultivated like living things.

These faces are not idealised. They are felt.

The Feminine as a Force

In this series, the feminine is not portrayed as delicate or passive. Instead, it is expansive, expressive, and unapologetically present. Each portrait holds tension — softness beside strength, vulnerability beside certainty.

I wanted to explore what happens when a woman no longer tries to fix herself, soften herself, or explain herself — and instead simply remembers who she is.

Faces of Becoming is about that moment:

• when emotion stops being something to manage and becomes something to honour

• when identity is no longer borrowed, but claimed

• when beauty is not performed, but embodied

What These Works Bring Into a Home

When these portraits enter a collector’s space, they do not simply decorate — they accompany.

They act as mirrors, reminders, and anchors:

• reminders that emotion is not weakness

• reminders that softness and power coexist

• reminders that becoming is ongoing

• reminders that identity is allowed to evolve

Each piece holds a quiet presence — a daily visual conversation with the self.

Why Faces Matter

Faces tell stories we don’t yet have language for. They carry memory, resilience, longing, confidence, and truth — sometimes all at once.

In Faces of Becoming, I paint faces not to define women, but to allow them to exist without explanation. These are portraits of inner climates — emotional, elemental, and timeless.

They are not portraits of who someone should be. They are portraits of who someone already is.

An Ongoing Becoming

This series is not a conclusion. It is an unfolding.

Faces of Becoming continues to grow as I do — as my understanding of identity, femininity, and selfhood deepens. Each new face adds another chapter, another reflection, another remembering. Because becoming is not about arrival. It is about presence. And sometimes, the bravest thing a woman can do is simply allow herself to be seen — as she is, right now.