ARTIST'S STATEMENT
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Central Question
What are the most common insecurities developed due to social comparison or the judgment of others & how do they affect us?
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Literature
My project is rooted in the ideal that is advertised to the public in various forms of media ranging from beauty standards set by celebrities and models to the standards set by our peers on social media. Failing to reach this often unrealistic ideal can result in the formation of insecurities that have the ability to damage self-confidence (Jacobson 2020). The widespread use of social media has been shown to have a role in the development of insecurities because of the platform it allows which can cause unrealistic comparisons of ourselves to our peers. The average person uses social media platforms to present the best side of themselves at all times which makes it appear as though “everyday is the best day ever” (Jacobson 2020). After collecting information from testimonials, I began to create sculptures that are a visual representation of the struggles that result from insecurities. The artistic style of my sculptures is inspired by Gerardo Feldstein’s work which features exaggerated characteristics (Hosmer 2013), directing the viewer's eye to specific parts of the sculpture. Through exaggerating specific aspects of my sculpture I highlighted the emotions and struggles portrayed by each piece.
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Methods
I conducted a content analysis of both popular (podcasts & youtube videos) and scholarly (statistics from studies) sources to determine what the most recurrent insecurities within our culture are. I used this information collected from my content analysis to build sculptures based on the themes of acne, body image, voice, and intelligence insecurities. I created four sculptures, two of them surrounding physical insecurities (a characteristic that is visible to the eye) and two nonphysical insecurities (a characteristic that is not visible to the eye). I began the sculpting process by sketching two variations of a sculpture for each theme and then revising each sketch prior to sculpting with clay. After sculpting each piece I painted them with a style that emphasized each brushstroke that I made and I chose a color palette that would accentuate the tone of the individual pieces.
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Audience & Impact
The target audience of my project includes people in the age range of 16-22. There are many influences that individuals are exposed to during this stage of life when a sense of identity is being developed which leaves this audience more prone to developing insecurities. Specifically, a 2016 study of Singaporean teenage girls emphasizes that the accessibility of social media creates a platform from which teenagers can easily compare themselves to their peers (Chua 2016). Social media has a large role in the daily lives of both teenagers and young adults, therefore completing my project with this audience prompts the exploration of relationship between recurrent themes in social media (ex: flaunting wealth, body standards, etc.) with the development of insecurities. My project aims to normalize the concept of having insecurities without feeling the need to fix some aspect of yourself in order to overcome said insecurities.
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