What appears incomplete but is actually whole?

The word incomplete is incomplete in itself, however when it's broken into its counterparts it is actually whole. The word incomplete will serve as the structure for this project, breaking the word into its syllables: 
I. In 
II. Come 
III. Plete (pleat) 

I. In
The word "in" correlates to my own process of growing into myself. As a kid my mom would remind me of the biblical meaning of my name Chloe—meaning "young green shoot" or "little green sprout" as she would say. This project takes the meaning of my name I've heard since I was a kid literally, symbolizing different parts of my identity with vegetables. The first part of this project looks at my process of closing myself off to make something new. This is represented by the photographs of the individual vegetables in their most pure form—unwashed, uncut, and uncooked. However, while taking the photographs I zoomed into different parts of the vegetables focusing in on unique folds, curves, and textures—much like how I choose to hyper fixate on different events in my life. Each vegetable represents a different aspect of my identity.

​II. Come 
​When I think of the word "come" I think about motion, walking, and arriving in a new place than one was prior. I think of growth, interpersonal discoveries, and strength in one’s identity. To represent this, I have created mixed media images that combine photography and graphic design to make one art piece—much like how events in my life appear to be individual events however when put all together, each have made me who I am today. This portion of the project intends to establish a sense of progress and growth but also stagnation since three dimensional objects have been photographed into a two dimensional form. This sense of one step forward and two steps back is apparent through this process, paralleling the process of interpersonal growth. 

At this point in the project, I have also incorporated images of myself into the designs in order to establish a visual connection between myself and the vegetables.
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III. Pleat 
The final part of this project "pleat" relates to the latter part of self growth involving lots of moving parts—which are visually represented by texture, typography, shapes, and creating unique realities in the final images. The word "pleat" reminds me of the folds and literal pleats in clothing, which create bold textures and movement. This portion of the project seeks to combine the images from Part I and Part II with text and special design effects to establish pieces that represent my depiction of "self" by utilizing texture and motion.

​Overall, this project seeks to make something complete out of something that appears seemingly incomplete, while also representing self. Parts I and II photograph and depict the vegetables in their purest form while also making them two dimensional. The actions of these two portions of the project work to symbolize feelings of stagnation. However, Part III actually brings together those depictions of stagnation to present the overall trajectory and motion of self growth. I believe that while the incomplete and individual moments in one’s life may appear to be unmemorable, they all lead one to becoming their most complete self. So I ask you, in your own life, what appears to be incomplete but is actually whole?