Scattered Selves

Sahan Jayawardena

Studio Concepts

Scattering Selves

“Women…use art as a vehicle of independence”

The fight for independence and equality as a woman is a movement that is very common in today’s era. Feminists are everywhere, and rightfully so. In one paragraph, the author talks about how women are using art as a vehicle for independence. But later on, the author goes in to great detail to talk about how women go to great lengths to portray themselves as somebody else, as other identities.

“Women look in to a camera the way they look in to the mirror.”

I thought this way an interesting comment because most of the time, at least for me, when I look in to the mirror, I see only myself. Actually, that’s the only time I see the truest form of myself. Other times I might feel a different way or picture myself in a different light, but in a mirror, it’s very black and white. No gimmicks, just myself in my truest form. In the camera, I feel like it’d be the complete opposite. In the lens of a camera, I can become anybody that I want to be. Of course, I’m a guy, and this entire piece is about women.

“Using art not as a way of hiding the self, but extending and redefining the identity by destruction of stereotypes”.

This comment goes hand in hand with the first. Understandably, as a fight for independence, the use of art as a way to destroy stereotypes is powerful. However, wouldn’t the stance be more powerful if these women dressed up as themselves instead of creating different personas? Wouldn’t the stance have more power if the pictures were just of them, as women? Instead of women cross-dressing? The changing of identities really threw me off as a way to promote the way of the self.