Self Image: Performance video

“Part of  Me”

 For the continuation of my project I chose to continue with my topic which is identity. The term identity emphasizes the qualities, beliefs, personality traits, appearance, and/or expressions that characterize a person. When I think of identity and being a women I think a major part of it revolves around one’s  appearance.A key part of our identity aligns with our hair. For many, Hair is apart of one’s culture and it even stems from the society and environment they grew up around. Our hair is an integral part of identity.

For my performance I show a two hour process in a 1 minute performance video. I wanted video performance correlate the same concept portrayed in the last assignment but with a different story line.  To execute the different storyline I chose to have someone else within the performance. In the performance video I am actively doing my friends hair. During the video viewers can see the expression on the volunteers face as she sits for those two hours as i do her hair. From her expression you can see that she is genuinely excited to se the overall look of her new style. Throughout the video Laila the volunteer is smiling. As she views the finished results of her hair she is overjoyed and excited of  outcome. Hair brings a positive body language and confidence, as she embraces her new look you can see the confidence and joy her new look brings.

I found that a large inspiration of my work depicted in the performance video stemmed from the photography of Mickalene Thomas. Many of her photos captures her loved one’s such as family, friends, and lovers. Her work ,“Racquel Leaned Back” (2013),  “Racquel #6” (2013/2015), and “La leçon d’amour” brings forward the identity, culture, and all in all beauty of colored women. The artist glamorizes the beauty and fashion of her focus point within the image by emphasizing and enhance the clothing and hair of the model by using bright and saturated colors, patterns and voguish hair.  A quote that I truly admired from the artist was “By selecting women of color, I am quite literally raising their visibility and inserting their presence into the conversation.By portraying real women with their own unique history, beauty and background, I’m working to diversify the representations of black women in art.” Another artist that inspired me to create my project about identity was  Ana Mendieta’s And her work “Imagen de Yagul” (Image from Yagul) from 1973. The artist states The making of my ‘Silueta’ in nature keeps the transition between my homeland and my new home,” she once said. “It is a way of reclaiming my roots and becoming one with nature. Although the culture in which I live is part of me, my roots and cultural identity are a result of my Cuban heritage.”

Quote

“These women are not metaphors, they are not waiting to be represented, rescued or destroyed. They are gloriously, catastrophically themselves, and we meet them on their own terms — as we so frequently meet each other — in stagy, embarrassing, endearing selfies launched into the world” Cindy Sherman