Identity. What does it mean? Who defines one’s identity? I feel that this is an idea many of us struggle with on a day to day basis. Our daily lives are very much consumed by this issue. Personally, I have always been trying to figure out just exactly who I am. What does my future look like? What career will I have when I graduate from college? Where will I end up through the course of my life? All of these questions connect to my big idea of identity. Who and what defines one's identity if any. Many different things in one’s life unite together to form identity. They define the person that we see ourselves as and how we appear to others. Identity is a pressing issue in today’s society and I think it is important to shed light on it. We cannot be afraid to confront this issue of identity, for “committing yourself is a way of finding out who you are. A man finds his identity by identifying.” (anonymous) In my midterm diptych project, I used art to convey my meaning behind identity. The research behind this project dealt with digging deep within myself and pulling out an issue that I think I often struggle with. Also, after talking with my cohort group, I realized that they also struggle with identifying with who they are. Therefore, I decided a good piece of art would consist of a pressing issue that affects many of those around us, including myself. My first piece of art deals with how one views themselves. It is an individual’s eye looking out upon him/herself. I created it to look somewhat like an x-ray as that is how we see the insides of things. As the person looks within themselves they see how they feel they portray themselves. The other artwork is of a reflecting pool to show how we reflect ourselves to other people. The images in the water display how we appear to those around us, how they identify with us. I thought these two images would work well together as they work to unite both how we view our identity and how others see us as individuals with an identity. I think that these song lyrics fit very well with the issue of identity that we all struggle with in our daily lives.
I wish you'd see it on my face
But I'm caught up in those long lost days
When I don't even know me
Following my footsteps home
This time I'm walking alone
Trying hard to be someone
I don't even know.
Shadow (by Maria Mena)
Melissa Rondinelli
I like how this art screams "you." I like the light of two arts. One makes it dark and grim and one makes the art more joyous feeling. It's interesting that the art is saying that various objects in the art defines you. It is an interesting view and I think you portrayed your thought very well.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part about your piece is the idea behind it. The x-ray feel of the eye as if you are looking inside yourself to see what defines who you are is deep. It works very well and its counter-part, although they compliment each other perfectly, shows the reflection of what people see in you. With these two ideas, I feel you have a great foundation to even extend your work in the future. The idea you used here is capable of continually being explored which is great for your final. Also, I love that most of the images were ones in which you took. This also makes it very personal. As we discussed, I would work on blending a bit more. The blur and smudge tool would come in great here. This would allow the images to feel a bit more like they were being reflected off the water. Next, maybe a light filter over the water would let it resemble a reflection a little more as well. Overall, I really liked your piece and it definitely has a very personal feel to it. Good work.
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