The subject of my project is myself and my own identity. I decided to use a lockbox and make it into a beauty or makeup box. I inserted a mirror onto one side of the box to make it look more like a makeup box. A mirror is a key part of a makeup box. You're able to see your imperfections up close and use the makeup you have to change it and transform yourself. On the other side of the box, I pasted a photo of my natural self. My curls (whatever is left of them) is shown. I don't have any makeup on. Directly in the front of the natural image tags are hanging. On the tags are photos of myself with a lot of makeup. I also edited my nose, eyebrows, lips, and face shape. The parts of my face on the photos on the tags roughly correspond to the parts of my face on the natural image. I made this choice because I wanted to show the way I prefer to look and think would make me look perfect at first glance and then what I really look like behind the scenes.
At first, I was going to use 9 tags but I realized that 6 would suffice. I also tried to use double-sided tape to attach the mirror to the box, which was a horrible idea. Instead, I bought command strips which held the mirror perfectly. I also was going to take the photos of myself with my polaroid but I realized that I might need to buy a lot of films just in case the photo doesn't come out how I want. An iPhone was also a better option because I was able to edit the photos on apps. I used white borders to make it look like a Polaroid image. The tags I bought also had their own handle but I cut them off and used yarn so I could adjust the length to fit in front of my face. I would categorize my project as a collage.
I was influenced by Cindy Sherman because of her exaggerated use of makeup in her socialite photos. She was trying to portray grotesqueness of high society and it reminded me of how grotesque I wish to look sometimes and the media's influence on that. I was also influenced by the artists in the artist portraiture and collage link, but specifically John Stezaker. John Stezaker blended two images together in his artwork entitled Muse (2012). This artwork made me think of putting together different images in collage form.
I believe my project conveys the way society's beauty standards affect a person and the way they want to see themselves. On a personal level, it may just convey how I want to see myself compared to how I naturally look.
The difference between my midterm self-portrait and my final self-portrait is how personal it is. My first self-portrait was mostly about how I easily get caught up in how I portray myself on social media because of the attention I get. This final project is more about how I see myself and want to see myself and how I'm not always satisfied with my appearance. I wanted to go deeper into my identity for this final project. This project helped me realize just how harsh I am on myself, how beauty standards have changed in society, and how no one will ever be able to fulfill those standards so you might as well love how you look.
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