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| "facemask", ©2012 18" x24" |
Oh, the many masks I've worn.....this challenge was a subtle reminder. Its made me reflect on when and why one chooses to be something they're not....completely. Whether it is to be brave and confident in the face of fear and doubt, or to hide the personal and private, masks can protect us. Masks can allow us to put our best foot forward.....or create a person we'd like to be. And the more I thought, the more I thought masks and masking were incredibly complex.
So, I asked myself "where do I exist behind a mask"? Probably nowhere as often as online these days. My internet persona has several facets, but all of them only tell part of a story. Starting with the image I've chosen to put out there, a cropped, accidental photo, that represents me on all of my social networks, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogger and beyond. It's part of me, complete with a benign introduction to my life, but only a small corner. And from there, "facemask" grew.....
In black and white, there is the "just the facts" mask. These includes the information one could collect from a Google search---in this case from my facebook page. And then there is the rose-colored me in my "superlative" mask that shares all thing positive and beautiful in my life....of which there are many. And finally, there is a colorful, artistic mask, that shares my artwork, which in turn reveals and hides other parts of me. Masks on masks.....
"facemask" was created from photos and text collected and assembled from my Facebook page. Images were printed on silk organza using digital ground and ink-jet printing. Text was machine quilted and a second image was overlaid to create dimension and masks on masks.
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| "facemask", detail |
I really like your take on this, Martha. There are so many masks or personas we use throughout the day, depending on the situation we're in.
ReplyDeleteThis is especially true on the internet where identities are formed from single sentences and brief glimpses. Love your spy-cam-capture profile picture, too!
Thanks, Kate! This was a thought-provoking challenge for me, the more I thought about it, the more intriguing it became. Sadly, I think my best ideas came to me as I was finishing the second version of this piece......but that will have to wait for another day. Thanks for posing such an interesting challenge.
ReplyDelete