"... man is not truly one, but truly two. I say two, because the state of my own knowledge does not pass beyond that point. Others will follow, others will outstrip me on the same lines; and I hazard the guess that man will be ultimately known for a mere polity of multifarious, incongruous and independent denizens..."
------------- Henry Jekyll's Full Statement Of The Case
-------The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Jekyll and Hyde is often thought of as a story about the human internal struggle between good and evil. But it's much more complex than that. Whilst Hyde represented pure evil, Jekyll was simply the average, conflicted human. There was no absolute good. Robert Louis Stevenson himself also pointed out that such a duality was a simplification - in the final chapter, he speculates that humans are conflicted in multiple directions, and not merely good vs evil. It has been said many times that everyone has a dark side - but darkness takes so many forms.

This is an introspective work. I find in myself so many conflicting voices, a different personality for each situation, and many types of darkness. My darker sides aren't just about evil done to others. Depression is the evil done to myself.

In terms of composition, the right is a single, out of focus half-face. It appears fairly coherent, but can't be seen clearly. It's the outer mask, hiding the turmoil within. On the left is another half face, constructed out of smaller faces. It is a harsh white, like a skeleton, the behind-the-scenes of my outer presentation. All the thoughts and ideas inside are constantly trying to break free. Black and white and red, the colours of good and evil and conflict. Blood, passion, love, hate. All these things come together.

All 130 photos are of me, edited in Paint.NET and assembled in Photoshop.

My first dA contest entry!

Video blog about this artwork: [link]