“Visions of Self” is a body of work I completed over the course of two terms at Dartmouth College for my honors thesis. This collection, in addition to my senior seminar work, awarded me the 2021 Robert Read Prize for graphic arts. All works are acrylic on masonite or plywood except for the last two, which are digital.
My Artist Statement
You see me. I see me. They see me.
These visions coalesce — splice, mingle, breed a new vision, a distorted mutation.
During the pandemic, my sole interaction with others is through social media. The constant influx of information contorts and redefines reality relentlessly. With my portraits, I take a snapshot of a moment in time, crystallizing a second of endless mutation.
In “Visions of Self,” I play with the edge of what is real. Inspired by how my understanding of myself has been warped by social media, I distort shape and color in self portraits to interrogate my perception of reality.
I disfigure myself in Photoshop and translate the result into acrylic paintings on wood. By moving these distortions into the physical realm, I cement them in reality and thus suggest that all of these perceptions of myself are true. The physicality of the paintings removes them from the digital, malleable world of social media, allowing me to hold a spotlight to its volatile nature.
I use highly saturated colors to push the limits of reality. In my colors I search for visual chaos that problematizes my cognitive understanding of identity. Perception is unreliable and fickle; artificial hues exaggerate this and further complicate how others and I perceive me.
