Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Bless Daniel-"Free Series"

 

-Bless-"In Opposition

                     "To Carry"                                                           "Tired"

-"Salvation"

This series as you see above is called the “Free’ series and is meant to depict a journey of self improvement. Originally, I wanted to make the topic solely on vulnerability but due to time constraints and conflicts with trying to capture the essence I was looking for , I chose to change the topic to freedom. Freedom is subjective as many would believe freedom to be mostly physical whether it be from literal shackles and chains or abuse. I wanted to depict freedom in a mental sense as many people in today’s society is mentally slaves to ideals or thoughts that they should be freed from. The bag symbolizes the physical manifestation of mental baggage and how it can feel after a while whether a person is depressed or weighed down by burdens that they do not share. The first image is meant to relate to people wanting to oppose the standards but knowing how to go about opposing it, hence the name “In Opposition”. My second image, “ To carry”, is similar to the first image but the difference is the self realization that to oppose something and to be yourself, you have to identify the source of the problem. In “The Opposition”, there are no bags present while in “To carry”, the bags are ever so present. I wanted to go for the feeling of dread, having it so that the viewer and myself have realized that themselves and I have been carrying a weight for so long that it became normal or nonexistent. Now that the bags are present, the weight is seemingly heavier and though the bags need to be dropped, I wanted to give a sense of obligation to carry the weight due to me carrying it for so long. By the third image, “ Tired”, The shirt has come off representing culture and stripping it of its value and its importance in my life. The bags are no longer worn but yet ever so present in the image. By the fourth image, “ Salvation”, I have dropped all shirts symbolizing my renewal through God as well as renewal in self, being freed from the weight and obligations left for the world. Now I can walk into the light and assume a version of self that is true to me and not anyone else’s.

    In terms of inspiration, I was highly inspired by Weems and the concepts of Cindy Sherman’s work. In Sherman’s work, she would physically dress up as others to send a message. The black and white style was an homage to Weems and also a way of conveying the idea from a viewer’s perspective, things will always seem easy or “Black and White” to them due to their lack of experience in your shoes. Similarly to Hooks work when she states that, “ ..We knew one fact for certain: we could not act the way we wanted..”(19), In my life, I have encountered situations in a way where people would respect me or accept me . I could not cry or be weak but yet keep my head held high and stay strong, being indoctrinated , “into boys the rules of patriarchal , we force them to feel pain and deny their feelings” (Hooks 22). In the images above, I wanted to showcase that as I stripped off the uncomfortable clothing and turned my back on the old paradigms of the past.  To add-on, Sherman inspired the clothing but instead of trying to dress up as others, I wanted to give the idea that I am not dressing for myself but for the people around me. I am dressing up as myself , a version of myself that is not authentic or even real in this matter. “ We come home to ourselves”, a quote taken from “ The Oppositional Gaze”, is something I took into account when talking about the images. In the beginning I dress for the pleasure of others but by the end, I chose what I want to wear and how I walk.


No comments:

Post a Comment