Existential guilt

“I apologize for taking up space.”

DESCRIPTION

Existential guilt is a guilt for simply being. The person doesn’t feel guilty for what they’ve done, but for existing.

Their shadow symbolizes how this guilt doesn’t come from the outside, but is born within. It’s an extension of the self that has turned predatory, a part of the psyche that devours identity. Her eyes, mirrored in the shadow, reveal that executioner and victim are one and the same: the attack comes from within.

The composition, built on the golden ratio and culminating in the face, represents a movement toward collapse. Everything converges on the annihilation of the self. Existential guilt acts like psychological autophagy: the person consumes themselves, convinced that their presence in the world is, in essence, a mistake.