curatorial rationale

 Throughout the visual arts course, I was able to explore multiple facets of the art world. During my research, I was faced with the issue of constant not-knowing and being unsure - of topics I want to explore, of media I am interested in, and most importantly of what felt authentic to me. The struggle of defining self is universal, and often lifelong. However, I found that there is comfort in outsourcing your identity, as we often do. We pick a part of our personality, an external object, or theme as a key concept to presenting ourselves to society. This makes us feel in control and serves as a foundation for having a certain sense of self. Through this exhibition, I would like to explore this idea and showcase the variety of external factors that we choose to base our presence on, as well as ask the question of whether it is possible to compress a whole identity into one, presentable aspect of it. I decided to base my work on personal experience and the people present in my life - on the way I see them as they presented themselves to me, and the way they see themselves, and how they identify their own key to self.

I would like to present my work in a way that reflects the concepts presented in the exhibition, from simple distinct geometrical shapes to more subtle, minimal yet convoluted lines, but also as an esthetic journey from vibrant colour, gradually developing into primary values. That is why I chose for my exhibition space to be organized in the form of a curvy, rather narrow corridor labyrinth-style, in order to mimic the complicated process of identity searching and the sense of destination. The colour of the walls would be reflective of the nature of the works, emphasising the gradual gradient from colour to value.  

The use of colour in Kid's View and Julia plays into the style of the works and the meaning behind them - the first one being a poster of paper cutout inspired by the work of Elżbieta Chojna in combination with reference to a Mieko Kawakami novella, in which we see the world through the eyes of a kid, and know the titular character only by some of her features, most importantly her blue eyelids; the second one, a representation of a fantasy, a happy place in the mind, with a style similar to that of a graphic novel targeted to middle-graders - the use of quilling adds a dimension to the work, making it all the more fantastical - is referential to the real world, as it comes from a real-life example of defining self through the love of nature, specifically, trees. I created Self-portrait as a way to visualise how I present myself to society at large, with emphasis on my obsession with live music, reflected in the use of concert memorabilia in the work. It is the last fully colourful piece in the exhibition, the next one being Ewa, a digital collage on self-shaping through a relationship with an animal, which helps the transition from colour to value. Guiding Lights is an extension to said transition, being mostly dark with some coloured accents, mirroring feeling lost within oneself with the hope of a lit pathway, and paying homage to the place that shaped our identities. The last two works, fully monotone, are the portrayals of parental figures - the first one being The Father, a commentary on certain generations imposing extensive meaning on your occupation as your whole identity and self-worth. The final piece, The Mother, serves as an antithesis to the rest of the exhibition, exposing identity as complex and intertwined, more intuitive, rather than pin-pointed. It allows for doubt when considering the question of whether identity can be compressed into a singular trait, or an outside factor imposing qualities on the self. 

The viewer has the possibility of making conclusions and answering the questions of identity on their own, based on their own responses to the individual works and the exhibition as a whole.