Cracked Actor, by De Ambershay

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ambershay/260218834/

The cracked forehead is an abrupt contrast to the lower half of the image, an unveiling of the hidden self with all of its scars and imperfections. The forehead is mask-like, calcified armor constructed from the accretion of life's abuses and traumas. I love the upward-curving eyebrow painted over the hollow eye socket. Lots of trinities and religious allusions here: the seductive veil, lips, and necklace (Magdalen); the three tied ends resembling crosses (Golgatha); the three diagonal goudges on the forehead (presumably from a crown of thorns); the arched "bridge" separating heaven from hell, outer beauty from inner despair and emptiness.