Identity

Are you able to judge others?

Self-Identity

The visibility of identity is a common misconception that drives many social values within society. It creates a perception of a person that is ultimately an aggregation of their impressions. From the date and place of their birth, to the stars above the moment, a myriad of hypotheses about a person are made upon sight.

An identity is something that people instinctively know is important. Some like to base their personality on horoscopes, or feel reassured about themselves through fortune telling. The categorization of people is a mechanism for understanding both the world and the self. It may act as a platform to center the nebulous concepts of the ego, or as a box that creates a wall of our perceived limitations.

More often than not, the categories are drawn from our observations and environment. They are also passed on between relationships, and the sharing of values. Rarely however, are these categories a true reflection of the self, as most are an unconscious acceptance of societal norms and expectations. These expectations then feedback into our perceptions of reality, shaping the world within our eyes. We are able to know a person before a single word is spoken.

My exploration tries to challenge the physical connection of perception to the internal dialogue of identity, and what do we truly know about the strangers we see from the person we believe is in front of us.

Designs for the series

I did some research and decided to create symbols that are made up of the star-signs, representative elements, flowers of the month, representative planets.

Photo sessions

People have kindly volunteered to be subjects of this project and have given me permission to paint the symbols on parts of their body where they felt comfortable with.