Domenech

Perspective

Perspective is an exhibition with the goal of providing a more bold, clear look at how body dysmorphia affects the world. Each piece is meant to be eye-catching and “loud”, communicating a clear message. It is overall meant to bring awareness to those things society finds ugly, and how they go from there. 

“Perspective”, the title piece of this exhibition, is a series of portraits of my classmates. Each portrait is done in black and white, except for an insecurity they told me they have. Those insecurities are painted in color, as a way to accentuate them. I chose to do these portraits in watercolor as it is the medium I am most familiar with, and I believe it created the best result, especially the marbling of the colors. It is meant to be the main draw of the exhibition. 

“Chapped" is a small piece that acts as an interlude to the exhibition. It is a small acrylic piece, which was initially created with the intention of practicing painting with acrylics. Now, “Chapped” represents the vicious cycle of insecurity. Chapped lips cause insecurity, which causes anxiety and anxious behaviors, such as chewing on lips, which causes the chapped lips. 

“Ad Astra” is a self portrait. It reads, “Astra inclant, sed non obligant” which is Latin for, “The stars incline us, they do not bind us”. This piece is meant to represent taking destiny into your own hands in regards to your appearance. A person can grow their hair, get a tattoo, dye their hair, get piercings, and other modifications to feel comfortable in their own skin. This piece is meant to be a call to action, to tell the audience to become whatever they want to be, as opposed to stewing in insecurity. 

“Mr. Potato Head” is a piece criticizing the double standards that come with getting plastic surgery. When you have a certain feature that can be fixed with plastic surgery, you’re mocked for not getting the procedure done. If you do, you are mocked for being plastic. Additionally, it’s meant to portray the normalization of such things at young ages. Instead of children being taught self love and acceptance, they are taught that if they are ugly, they can pay money to get it fixed, while also paying money to get mocked. 

“All Eyes On Me” is a piece meant to represent the psychological torture that comes with having significant insecurities, the feeling of always being watched and judged. The piece is a monochrome ink illustration with the accent of color of red, to catch the eye of the audience. It is meant to convey a sense of dread. 

“Something’s Happening” is a colored pencil illustration that shows the distortion in perception that body dysmorphia causes. The wide variety of colors is meant to represent how fragmented a person can feel in this state of mind, and how alien it makes them feel. 

“LOOK!” is a 3d piece made with a mirror, air dry clay, and POSCA markers. The goal of this piece is to force the audience to think of how a person with body dysmorphia thinks and sees themselves whenever they look in the mirror. 

Finally, there is “Ribbons”. “Ribbons” is a reflection of my own insecurity, which was my self harm. From the ages of 12 to 16, I would self-harm quite frequently. One of the first coping mechanisms I developed to counter the urges was to draw on myself. The painting on the back of the 3d piece is as close of a recreation as I could do of the first time I drew on myself to try to ignore the urge to cut myself. Barbed wire surrounds the wrists, reflecting the endless loop that is the addiction that comes with self-harm. 

Perspective, as the name implies, is meant to try and provide a new perspective to those who see it. Are their insecurities actually life-ending flaws, or are they the parts of themselves that make themselves more human?