Mirrored - Emma Kanafani

Emma Kanafani -

My body of work attempts to explore the themes of identity and self discovery. I began exploring these themes through the analysis of different experiences that people face consciously and subconsciously. I also incorporated influences from personal experiences that contributed to my self development and discovery into each artwork. Most importantly, I wanted to capture the difficulties of the self discovery journey. Each piece I created subconsciously represented my struggle with my identity as a reflection of what was most present in my life, thus, I explored the theme of identity through outside influences and how they may contribute to one’s own identity. I intended to explore different mediums while maintaining a steady theme because I thought it would be interesting to see the contrasting uses of materials to address one big theme. The first piece I created around the theme of identity was a self portrait based on certain perceptions of myself, while incorporating elements of form and principles of harmony. Creating a self portrait gave me insight into what place I was at mentally, and how that affected the way I viewed myself at the time. The second piece I created addressed themes of romantic relationships and their role in shaping one’s identity. I drew characters to resemble certain contrasting personality traits to portray the toxicity of relationships.The third piece I created was my first attempt to explore perspective, specifically from the 5-point perspective, of a stereotypical bedroom of a teenage girl. This piece addressed the influence of how young female stereotypes can shape one’s identity. The fourth piece addressed specific aspects of religious trauma and feelings of disappointment in one’s own religious identity. All of my pieces thus far have explored painting techniques through the use of watercolor and acrylic paint. Watercolor has always been an interest of mine, so I wanted to let the watercolor speak for itself as I painted the backgrounds of my first two pieces. I wanted a challenge as well as a change, so I experimented with acrylic paint, which was always a dream of mine. I held the viewers intentions in mind closely as I conceptually developed each piece. Although these pieces were constructed from personal experience, the interpretation of the viewer was just as important to me as the true intentions of the pieces. Because self discovery is such a personal journey for everyone, I had hoped that each piece would have resonated with the audience in some way depending. For every piece, I was determined to evoke some sort of emotion, good or bad, in the audience when they viewed my art. I hope for the display of my body of work to feel overwhelming. I want the audience to be overwhelmed with curiosity and emotion as they take a first glance.

Self Portrait, watercolor and pencil 56 x 76 cm

Self Portrait is an attempt to explore the element of form and principle of harmony through the illusion of dimension and a unifying range of hues. Dimension evolved through exaggerating my features, while I chose hues that best represented the beautiful chaos of self-perceptions and formations of either admiration, or self hatred. Stylistically, I intended for this piece to emit a sense of eeriness through the influence of horror manga techniques, while letting the watercolor speak for itself.

Bless our Happy Home, watercolor and pencil 56 x 76 cm

Bless our Happy Home was intended to capture the essence of a family photo, portraying the distinction of personality differences in two lovers. The characters expressed the theme of toxicity and desolation rooted in the failure of a relationship, further affecting their esteem and self happiness. Similarly to Self Portrait, this piece was influenced by horror manga techniques, while utilizing subtle yet dark hues to amplify the uncomfortability that the characters radiate.

You Are a Sinner, acrylic on Canvas 50 x 40 cm

You are a Sinner addresses religious trauma stemming from disappointment in one’s identity for the failure to meet the beliefs/norms of the religion they belong to. I captured the internal conflicts of a young girl struggling to perfect her current religious self, while being tied down to a religiously acceptable version of herself, ironically limiting her growth as an individual. This piece has no outside influences, but attempted to explore artistic style while utilizing deep reds and blues.

Do We Love, acrylic on illustration board 101 x 45 cm

Do we love represents the infatuation of two lovers in a romantic relationship. I wanted to address the concept of love and how it affects the way one may view their lover, as well as themselves. This piece attempts to portray feelings of being infatuated with someone to an extent of finding a new purpose in the eyes of the person one may love. I chose to work on a larger scale to give this piece a realistic aspect, along with room to elongate the bodies of the two characters.

Who am I Today?, acrylic on canvas 50 x 49 cm

Who am I today? attempts to address the difficulty of being so unfamiliar with oneself and one’s purpose. “Who am I Today” highlights the confusion of what our minds tell us (if anything) we are meant to be or do in this lifetime. I wanted to approach this from an abstract perspective as this piece incorporates dissociative thoughts and behaviors through the use of disproportion. There is no particular outside influence other than the stylistic techniques of abstract art styles. What defines our reality?

Girls Will be Girls, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 40 cm

Girls Will be Girls was intended to represent the societal stereotypes of young girls that contribute to the perception of one’s identity. I utilized a range of pinks and other colors in the characters design to highlight that same theme. The characters were designed to incorporate certain expectations placed upon young girls, although the 5-point perspective approach is what unifies the piece. This piece was heavily influenced by the unique and intricate perspective pieces by Enrico Robusti.