Timidity and Indecision
Inspired by Boris Artzybasheff's surreal illustrations of timidity and indecision, I decided to take my own shot at representing these concepts.
Timidity is represented by the depiction of a person finding comfort inside a tortoise shell. The part of her body that is obscured can be seen as an x-ray on the surface of the shell. I wanted this piece to communicate both the fear of the unknown, and the concealment of what's vulnerable.
Indecision is represented by an illustration of an MRI scan, in which multiple brains fill the space where a regular brain would normally sit. The idea here is quite straightforward - indecision often feels as if your brain is fighting itself, as if there are multiple people attempting to come to a decision.
I decided to represent both of these concepts through body-imaging techniques (x-ray and MRI) because they're both very internal and personal. X-ray and MRI are also internal and personal, it just felt right.
You can click on the images to magnify.

Timidity

Indecision