The Place in Which I’ll Fit Will Not Exist Until I Make It

By Bella Monty

By Bella Monty

“The piece originated from a photograph I took in Thailand, a moment when I felt temporarily free from the expectations and judgments that had shaped my self-image. In its altered form, the portrait distorts my body while keeping my face and hair—the features I’ve always felt most confident in—more visible. This visual abstraction reflects the duality of self-love and insecurity, revealing how external influences impact the way we see ourselves.

Through planetary elements and an alternate-reality setting, the piece examines self-acceptance as an ongoing journey — somewhere between longing and belonging, between who I am and who I imagine myself to be. It asks: If confidence can exist in another version of me, in another space, why not here? This work is a meditation on reclaiming identity, free from the pressures that once shaped it.”