A collage of cut paper and pencil drawing. At the centre is a pencil drawing of the Greek god Atlas. Rather than supporting the world, Atlas is shown carrying a sphere on his shoulders with the words responsibility written inside it. To the left of the Atlas figure are pieces of cut paper with the words growth, kind, brave, family and friends printed in coloured ink. Below the figure the word strong is printed on cut paper. To the right of the figure are the words excellence, wisdom and balance are printed on cut paper. Below these words is the image of a male lion.

Artist Statement:

I decided to put a bunch of keywords that depict manhood. The first one is “growth” something that a man has to go through in order to become a man: you have to grow. “Kind” is one trait I believe that men should have. “Bravery” is also another one. “Family” and “friends” are two things that are very important to me. “Strong”, men are strong so I decided to draw the god Atlas here. Instead of carrying the world, he’s carrying an orb that says “responsibility” because you have to carry your responsibilities as a man. And I also put a lion there because the lion is an alpha animal.

Bio:

In the past I had struggled with severe anxiety and depression that was erased when I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I grew up in a Christian home and prayed the sinner’s prayer but there was nothing different about me. When I acknowledged that I was a sinner and was willing to turn from my ways, Jesus delivered and saved me. Ever since then, my life-which was headed nowhere fast-took a 180 degree turn. Jesus has given me a new purpose and as a man, I want to follow His example.

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