"I, I, and I" ・"Trapped in your perception of me"
Analysis:
For the piece “Trapped in your perception of me,” I wanted to show how others would put together fragments that they see of you to see a distorted version of who you really are. Certain impressions would stand out more significantly to them, so I changed the rectangle size for each column. For the selection of the portrait, I used the picture with a lot of light exposure to evoke how I would make effort to glamorize how others perceive me. I used red to show the anger of being unable to control how I am viewed, which I don’t show, as seen with my calm facial expression.
To show how there would be divided opinions on whether people would like me or hate me, I enhanced the contrast of the picture to highlight the light and darkness in the portrait. I also used red and green lights, symbolizing acceptance and denial, which is more prominent in the background as I subconsciously care about this.
Like the other one, the critical feature in this collage is the eyes. The repeated imagery of the eyes looking through the fragmented frame shows the willingness to be seen a certain way, as the earnest glance seems to make an appeal to the viewer. However, as aforementioned, the calm expression suppresses this message, again showing how others might not see you the way you want them to.
Analysis:
For the piece “I, I, and I,” I collaged the blue portraits. The middle portrait symbolizes the person I perceive or know myself to be, while the other two illustrate the other faces I put on in different situations. These sides of myself are usually not present, sleeping in the depths of my personality. To represent this, I have my eyes closed, symbolizing unawareness. Furthermore, I gave it an unreal and dreamlike quality by color-dodging the photo and overlaying pink light leaks. To show how I can’t quite grasp where it’s coming from.
The red to yellow gradient in the background alludes to the transient quality of these faces– showing how quickly I can put on such a facade and make people think a certain way about what kind of person I am. By making the red more prominent than the yellow at the edges, I try to indicate how the happiness or praise I get from showing the single side of myself is temporary, damaging my sense of self-worth in the end.
Intent:
Living in a society means interacting and leaving an impression on people. In different situations/with different people, we change who we are to an extent. But we cannot control how other people interpret our actions or state of being, and ultimately, we become trapped in their expectation of us.
It becomes a greater burden if we are putting on a whole different outlook to be accepted or receive praise, because then theres the doubt that people wouldn’t like us for how we really are, causing us to judge ourselves.
Through self-portraiture, I wanted to explore how there are many sides to myself, and the concept of being trapped in the perception of others.