For my self portrait, I chose to represent a face using some of the objects I’ve interacted with most in the last few weeks. I wanted to explore the ideas of familiarity and change, and wanted to look at how the meaning of objects changes in relation to physical and cultural settings. For the past month, I have been staying at a friend’s house, and have been limited to using only the things that I brought with me and what I found around the house. Because of this, I had to occupy myself with things I might normally ignore. For example, since I had paint with me for another class, and found a set of colored pencils at my friend’s place, I practiced drawing and painting, which I normally don’t do. I also began journaling again, which is something I have wanted to do more, but never prioritized.
A lot of the objects that I used in my self portrait were also based on comfort and self care--the clothing I wore were the pieces I felt most physically comfortable in, I used makeup when I needed to feel more put together, and I have been using music as a coping mechanism when I get particularly stressed or anxious. I also chose to knot my headphones and place them on my forehead in the portrait to represent the tangle of feelings I’ve been experiencing. These ordinary objects and activities are not particularly significant on their own, but have become important to me and how I have been living during my time in quarantine.
When I was putting this project together, I thought a lot about Being There, and how Chance’s life was almost solely influenced by the people he was around and the situations he stumbled into. I have been feeling a similar sense of uncertainty and loss of control this past month, and I feel like there is little that I can do to change that.
This project was an interesting exploration of my recent emotions and interactions, but it was also a change to the way that I make art. I enjoy working mostly in sculpture and fiber arts, and this self portrait related to that because I was able to physically interact with the materials, and build something 3-dimensional. Typically, I like the work that I make to be more structured and neat, so it was definitely a change for me to make something looser, more chaotic, and representational.
I like this approach so much. I agree that getting outside your comfort zone is a good exploration. As I said in class, I think this would benefit from better light so we can see the objects more clearly. It is so interesting to imagine these objects symbolizing a loss of control. Maybe the darkness makes more sense. I was also struck by your connection to fiber arts. I can see the connection to sculpture. Good work.
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