Profile embodies the central thesis of The Triumph of Romanticism: the evolution from Romanticism through nationalism and propaganda to social media as personal propaganda. This trajectory—from poetic idealism to image-driven identity—unfolds across the canvas in layers of iconography and provocation.

At its core, a dotted outlin dominates the composition, labeled “(Your photo here).” This placeholder challenges viewers with the opening question: What could a terrorist look like? It’s an invitation to self-insertion and confrontation, implicating the viewer not just in the image, but in the historical machinery of constructed identity. Behind the silhouette, a burst of color made from the artist's handprints radiates outward—an act of presence, authorship, and individuality within a system of mass representation.

To the left, the visage of Marilyn Monroe emerges: alluring, idealized, mythic. Yet beneath her, text is struck through, forming a grid of redacted text—echoes of censorship, erasure, and the manipulation of fame. Monroe becomes a visual paradox, her identity both amplified and stripped away, reflecting the mechanism through which identities are shaped and consumed.

On the right, a square panel evokes the tradition of aristocratic portraiture. Once tools of power projection, similar portraits now echo in curated feeds and filtered profilesof social media. This reference links past propaganda with contemporary self-branding, highlighting the seamless transition from oil painting to influencer imagery.

On the far right, a blurred crowd diffuses across the canvas—anonymous and indistinct. This Everyman collective is neither passive nor neutral; it is both target and mirror of propaganda. Embedded within this crowd are six stars, recurring motifs across the exhibit. Here, the stars signal the dispersal of Romantic ideals into the social ether: hope, fear, love, sovereignty now reside not only in heroes but in the unnoticed multitude.

In the center a stark black square. It offers no ornament, no clue—just absence. It reads as void, silence, or potential. This emptiness is ruptured by the lone yellow star, breaking the square’s border. The star is not decoration—it’s emergence. It proposes that meaning can break through systems, that possibilities remain within the emptiness.

Together, these elements refract the viewer’s gaze through history, mythology, iconography, and critique. Profile isn’t a portrait. It’s a feedback loop. It reflects what we project, exposes what’s mythologized, and reveals how propaganda has colonized the personal.