The process of a person believing they are becoming or being seen as an animal. Lycanthropy or the Werewolf Syndrome came to mind, but that involves a person physically shapeshifting into a wolf. Zoanthropy involves self-perception only, but tying to depict that two-fold aspect – the self and the animal alter-ego – was daunting. A good part of my adult life, being named Dare, I have often been called Dare Bear. So, a bear it would be. In Photoshop I overlayed my photo with that of a grizzly, looked for points of intersection, and then reworked the combination to create facial shapes that could be broken apart, painted, and then recombined in a series of layers. It was a lengthy process. Having a beard and glasses I think helped keep my presence strong in the piece. Each of the facial pieces was cut out on a scroll saw, very carefully due to many being small and intricate in shape. Reassembling all the pieces was challenging due to my needing to pre-see which went in the background and which in the foreground and then painting them an appropriate color. There are six layers, not counting the circular base.