Honors Studio: Alter Ego

 Language - Honors Studio Assignment #3

Artist's statement: 

Language impacts our understanding of the world growing up, specifically the expectations and indications of what we are told. Constantly, we are asked, “Who do you want to be when you grow up?” This guided my thinking as I thought about why societal expectations wanted me to know who, what, why  I wanted to be the way that I am. I thought of explanations: our obsession with education and success instead of feeling like a person, and I ultimately ended up back at the freedom of self expression, boxed into a single answer:  I don’t have to “be” anything. I have a “face, eyes, mouth,” so what is a body except to hold my person? I wanted the wire to represent “stitching” yourself together out of what you want to be, and rip the cardboard in a way that felt protestful, but also provide texture. The canvas cutouts were made up of different facial features, intended to look out of context (youthful and feminine versus charming masculine), and I chose words that could be interchangeable between the call and response. “ I want to be a somebody, a body, because what is there to be, except yourself?” 

Early stages of piece:

A nod to the character Frank-Furter from Rocky Horror, I used her face as a reference here. I wanted features with heavy, emphasized makeup, and the drag concept ended up tying into my idea. 

Used paper towel and wire material to rub texture into cardboard and the paint as it dried. 

 

The response: Can't I Just Be Somebody?

Super early sketches. My vision for the piece changed drastically from page to page, but my idea metamorphosized. 

Sketches of the idea I ended up going with.