Real vs Ideal

Real Portrait

Ideal Portrait

In the ideal portrait, I wanted to portray a strong, confident young woman who looks you in the eye and does not care about what people think, and the stereotypes they might have. In the real portrait, I am more shy. This is true in real life. I would love to be more confident and outgoing, but in reality, I'd like to not look at the camera and to not know what other people think of me. I'm timid and afraid. 

I dressed up for these portraits because when I think of sitting for a portrait, I think of trying to look your best, of getting your hair and makeup done. 

A Mask

My mask would probably be best described as formalism. I was not thinking of a deeper meaning behind it when I made it, I was just enjoying having the chance to make art. I knew I wanted to do something with beads and glitter because I love them both. With that said, I do not feel that it bears any relationship to my real/idea self-portrait. 

"The Kiss" Klimt

"The Kiss" by Klimt is the art historical example I choose to relate my mask too. It is jeweled just like the one in the picture and the coloring is similar.

A Landscape

I feel that the idea that we own the earth and that we have autonomy over the earth can be problematic and good at the same time. For example in this photograph, there is a railroad. Our feeling of ownership of the land led to things such as railroads and roads. These things are very useful and have helped to advance human civilization. It is also bad because we tend to misuse the land and take it for granted. We destroy forests and wildlife habitats. I think that this photograph both mourns and celebrates the earth. It is a beautiful winter landscape  but it is cut in half by a railroad and telephone lines, pure human creations.