In a quest to understand my identity, I have chosen to use my capstone project as a vehicle for personal awareness. I propose that each of us maintains what I term as our “imagined” identity, that is the person we see ourselves to be as well as the “social” identity, the character assigned to us by others. My installation is a glance at the conflicts and contradictions that often times arise when the two identities clash.

The three multi-media paintings, four feet square, represent the social identities: the female soldier, the sex object, and the mother. As a woman advancing to her 30’s, the role of mother is in my near future.  My mother was the inspiration for this piece. Throughout this process, I have come to realize that I am my mother.  I have chosen to explore the female soldier, under the assumption that there is a distinction between male and female soldiers, and therein lies a good story. A women’s sensual being, I believe, is complex with many sub-roles within it. The objectification of women is currently the thorn in my side.

The imagined identities are visually depicted as paper dolls representing: the little girl, the career woman, and the pious or religious woman. While the paintings are stationed and lack the same participation from the audience as the paper dolls do, the audience’s control is therefore removed. Here, I am drawing a conclusion that society’s judgments onto us are out of our hands.

I chose the unifying material of mirrors throughout my project for the purpose of literal and metaphorical sense of reflection. The text is taken from personal quotes from my research and experiences. The square shape of the canvases is to subtly evoke windows, a means for us to look into ourselves.  This project is an exploration of societal labeling of who we are versus our individual labeling. The question is not whether one identity is truer than the other, but it is my hope that the audience will walk away with a greater awareness of the complexity of the evolution of identity.