Strings Attached 

“Strings attached” is an art piece I have created that gives the viewer an abstract look about anything they make it out to be. The beauty of this piece is that there is no set symbolic meaning behind it. Anyone can translate this work to their own personal life, and make it meaningful. The way I see this piece is by the representation of resilience. We can see the puppet who cut its strings, in an environment of fellow beings who stay tied. To me, this symbolizes the courage of someone doing the unthinkable. Being resilient enough to do such a thing. Being able to represent themselves in a society so different from them. We can also see this as someone breaking loose and letting their creativity run free, despite the circumstances of being stuck in a ruled society where everyone is contained. The slashes on the dolls represent the length of time they have lived. There is no formal way to date exactly what each of their ages are, but we can see they all vary from young to old. The painted faces on their heads represent masks of false emotion, with an attempt for them to always look content. It kind of connects to the modern-day first world, how we always try to present ourselves as ‘happy’, when we all know everyone isn’t, and how most people are stuck with a meaningless job until they die. The ratio of trapped to free puppets represents how so few people escape economic labor and live their dreams.