erin

Seeing different artists create unique pieces, I realised that differing perspectives shaped how each artist presents their experiences. This led me to think about how everyone experiences the world through their own eyes, or a personal “lens”. One’s personal lens isn’t always physical, but rather a metaphoric perception shaped by values. Values developed throughout adolescence can be influenced by family, rights of passage and many more. The concept of seeing through a personal lens inspired the piece “Through My Looking Glass”, which opens my exhibition to the journey of changing perspectives. Opening the exhibition, "Through My Looking Glass" introduces the 3 lenses: friends, family and media, that have influenced my identity and self worth. Looking back at the lenses, I gained perspective on turning points in my life. The pieces following “Through My Looking Glass” inspect the different “lenses”, and showcase how my perspectives shifted.

Surrealism shows ambiguity between imagination and reality, and how our personal “lens” isn’t physically seeing, but within our minds. Surrealism creates a boundary between my inner emotional state and reality. Fantastical landscapes show how the pieces aren’t describing physical experiences, but the pivotal moments which changed my inner perspective. “Through My Looking Glass” being the only 3D piece in my exhibition represents how physically being present is the starting point of realising my own identity. Each piece represents a stage where my perspective and personal “lens” changed, and my mental state at each stage. The audience experiences adolescence through my perspective, and understands how my thought process developed, and simultaneously relives their own experiences - realising their personal “lens” and the values which shape their perspective.

The first symbolic motif I used is fish, which is a representation of my emotional state. The connection between the sound of my Chinese name “_愉”, with the Chinese character for fish “_魚” inspired me to use this symbol within my pieces. The movement of the fish shows how my journey through life is constant, and different experiences will constantly change my perspective as I mature. The pieces represent snapshots of my perspective at certain points in time, and the fish will continue swimming, just like how that stage in my life will pass as my perspective and “lens” continues changing. The different species of fish represents the change in attitude I had in stages of my life. Beta fish are known to have individual personalities, and develop relationships. However, they are also prone to stress and frustration without adequate space and relationships, this represent the stage in my life where I felt out of place with the desire to fit into expectations in “When the Cat’s Away the Fish will Play”, hence the idea of leaving the fish bowl shows me growing out of that stage and releasing that desire.

The second symbolic motif is the astronaut, representing my childhood aspirations, imagination, and the ability to have boundless dreams. However, as the childhood aspiration of being an astronaut is considered a generic childhood dream, the way that the astronaut helmet was used in my pieces to show leaving childhood behind, depicts how I realised that as we get older we begin to see the uniqueness of individuality, and develop our own values. As a child, many of our perspectives are simple, and we view the world in similar ways, but as we grow up our “lens” develops into individually unique perspectives.

The structure of my exhibition requires the viewer to focus on one piece at a time, with each piece having it’s own wall in an accordion like composition. The viewer is required to walk around the individual walls to see each piece, simulating going through stages of my life. The viewer first sees “Through My Looking Glass”, and upon turning around, reveals my other pieces. The experience of physically turning around to reveal all my pieces represent how one’s perspectives are not seen on the surface, but in inner values. The pieces all being at eye level, showcases how growing up is a common experience, and even if the specific imagery relates to my individual experiences, and the viewer becomes one with my identity as they view the pieces, everyone can extract personal memories from my works.

Through My Looking Glass

Acrylic on Acrylic Plastic, Cardboard Paper and Watercolour

Three aspects which influence my perspective are represented through three “lenses”: culture, in the form of Chinese paper cutting, friends, and the media represented by Ghibli cartoons. The clouds portray friendship, which is ever changing, but comforting. The interactive element incites the viewer to think about their own “lenses”, through reliving my experience. Moving layers show the dynamic nature of perspectives, but the immovable umbilical cord represents the firm influence of parents.

When the Cat’s Away the Fish will Play
Acrylic on Canvas

This piece addresses the pressure of expectations. The fishbowl represents expectations of peers that restrict me, the fish being larger than the bowl represents me breaking out of expectations. Black water hides my true self from peers, which is the cat - a predator to the fish. The cat is too distracted by their social media image to pay attention to the fish. The realisation that my peers are focused on themselves, with no influence on my self worth, allow me to break free from expectations.

Chang-e

Acrylic on Canvas

As I develop personal values, my perspective on Chinese cultural norms changed. Growing older, I experience social norms of femininity. “Chang e (嫦娥)”, is a woman trapped on the moon as a result of going against her husband, but is also a symbol of femininiy. The fish trapped within the moon shows how I also feel trapped by culture. The Yin Yang patterned fish, shows how my identity has both masculine and feminine energy, going against tradition, and my belief that gender doesn’t define oneself.

No Floaters

Acrylic on Canvas

The shift towards adulthood comes with an expectation to abandon imagination. The sense of adventure symbolized by the helmut is cracked by outside judgement that develops in adulthood. The red tailed black shark known to be a territorial species, circles around the helmut as a symbol of desire to protect my childhood imagination. A shark is supposedly menacing, but this species is small and vulnerable, showing my contrasting outer versus inner emotions.

Baked

Digital

As we grow older, childhood dreams fade. Being an astronaut was my childhood aspiration, as possibilities were endless. As I grew older I realised the limitations of my own abilities. The first time I felt independence and the fear of responsibility was when I made my first meal. The disconnected oxygen anks symbolize the shift away from parental support, which was a sense of safety. I developed a fear of failure, limiting the dreams that I once had.

Can’t You See Me?

Acrylic on Canvas

When I was a child swimming lessons first developed feelings of self judgment. Thus the water is a symbol of anxiety. The fish represents my mental health deteriorating under self imposed pressure, however they are only present in the reflection. This shows how pressure is only in my imagination. The figure represents me, which is covered by a sheet. The sheet represents my family, which both protect me from my self image, but also hold me back from moving past my expectations.

Crash Landing

Digital

As a child I didn’t understand the value of friendships, but as I grow up I realise the comfort close friendships bring. The rocket ship comes from a memory of sitting in a model spaceship as a kid with friends, feeling safe in the space created. The spaceship falling to Earth symbolises the realisation that comfort is fleeting, although I seek sanctuary in friendships, I have to come back to reality. However, the the spaceship door is always open symbolising that I can always go back.

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