this is old! so for art class in september, we had to create a Personal Mandela, based on the Mandela's created by Tibetan monks as a form of meditation. And now! because i am lazy! i am litterally just copy+paste-ing the write up i handed in with this . here it is:

Unlike most Mandela’s that represent moving from the chaotic world of the outside to the peaceful Nirvana at the center, my Mandela signifies the journey from the trapped soul to the world and freedom.
The female figure in the center represents my inner soul as an artist. I chose to use Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man as a template for this model because of its unique story. Early in the Renaissance, Cesariano, an artist of the time, tried to prove that the human figure could fit perfectly within a square in a circle. Many Mandela’s also depict a perfect square within a circle. The picture by Cesariano, however, made the human figure seem disproportionate and unnatural. Da Vinci realized that in order to make a perfect human figure, one must not force a perfect square within a perfect circle. Therefore, the only way to be perfect is to be imperfect. This notion relates heavily to the symbolism of my Mandela because I believe that the human soul cannot be forced into any shape or form, and the seemingly imperfect soul may be the most perfect. In other words, although I, and other artist, am sometimes ridiculed at sometimes being different or strange, we are truer to ourselves, and more spiritually complete.
The ring of fire and water around the figure represents the trials of life that must be over come to gain freedom. This for me represents high school and university.
The silver and gold points around the Mandela represent the points of a compass. This signifies that once through the trails of life, I will have many directions to choose from as to where I go as an artist.
The earth represents, well, the earth, and the many places I may travel to. Lastly, the black ring represents the stars and the night sky, because, to me, the sky’s the limit.


did you accually read all of that? loser.