2026 · Oil Painting · London, Ontario, Canada
Exhibited at the 35th London Pride Art Show (2026)
The first self-portrait I ever finished.
For more than twenty years, I wanted to paint a self-portrait.
I started several times, but somehow I never finished one.
For a long time, I thought it was because my painting skills weren’t good enough. Looking back now, I don’t think that was the real reason.
Painting a self-portrait isn’t that difficult.
Looking at yourself honestly is.
This wasn’t meant to be a perfect portrait.
As I painted, I kept making small adjustments.
“Is the face too serious?”
“Does this really look like me?”
I wasn’t trying to create a perfect likeness. I was trying to understand what I was seeing.
At the same time, I was fascinated by the relationship between light and shadow—how light reveals part of a face while allowing the rest to remain unseen.
In the end, I stopped painting not because I thought it was perfect, but because it had become honest enough.
Last Friday, this painting was exhibited at the 35th London Pride Art Show (2026).
I was grateful that so many people stopped to look at it and shared kind words with me.
One comment stayed with me.
“Why does Percy look so serious?”
It made me smile.
Most people know me as someone who smiles a lot.
But people who know me well also know that I spend a lot of time observing, thinking, and quietly reflecting.
So perhaps this painting wasn’t showing a different Percy.
It was simply showing a side of me that isn’t always visible.
That’s why I named this painting I am. Am I?
To me, it isn’t about doubting who I am.
It’s a reminder that every day, I am becoming someone.
Through every choice.
Through every response.
Through the way I treat others.
Through the way I take care of myself.
Through the way I face success, failure, joy, and uncertainty.
Every day, life quietly asks,
Who are you becoming?
And every day, whether we realize it or not,
we answer that question.
Not with our words.
But with our choices.
When people stand in front of this painting, I don’t expect them to see me.
I hope it encourages them to pause for a moment and think about themselves.
Not,
“Who am I?”
But perhaps,
“Who am I becoming?”
© Percy PoCheng Lin
I am. Am I? exhibited in TAP Centre for Creativity London Ontario for Pride Art Show in 2026