For this project we had to create something that expressed our identity. For me my identity can be expressed by a number of things like through my art, the music I listen to, or the clothes I wear. In my life I have always been led around by my family following an unspoken saying that family is first and you do what you're told even if you don't like it. I have had to struggle with my identity, always, for the simple fact that everything I do has to be, for the most part, approved by my family or by my mother.
My original concept was to create a series of photos in which I grew up listening to what my parents told me to wear instead of me being able to choose what I wanted to wear. I was going to have me as a child and then with each new panel I would have aged until I came to the age I am now. I wanted to have quotes from my family on how disapproving they were when they saw my sense of style begin to veer away from what they had tried to guide me to and how radically different it was from what my peers were wearing.
In trying to bring the above concept to life, I realized that it wasn't exactly an accurate portrayal of how me and my family clashed on the subject. So I revised it as my younger self representing what I had to do since I was too young to have a choice. The child is spewing quotes and sayings from what my mom and various family members have said to me over the years. The words are directed at an image of an older woman which represents me now. I am reacting to the quotes and fighting back to what they try to get me to do as I'm not a child anymore and can make my own decisions. My words end up having more reach to suppress what my family has said to me representing that, though they say these things to me, I am not going to let them suppress who I am and will dress as I please. The type face though not very confrontational is to be understood that my family didn't actually mean me any harm by trying to change my style of dress. It was more of a way to say that people who dress differently get looked at differently but living the life I have, I learned to not care what people say and to fight for what I believe is right for me- which is why my typeface is bolder, stronger, and has a longer reach than what the little girl is saying to me.
I didn't actually add any clothes to the photos because this isn't really about what I wear, it's about my family interactions over my identity and who I chose to be in spite of them trying to make me something I'm not. I think I accomplished this task by giving viewers a chance to see how we clash at times and how even though your family means well, what they say isn't always right.
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