Commentary

1) What is the central idea of your concentration?

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My concentration is about identity. Being adopted by a family who looks different from me, my definition of identity is different from other people around me. Growing up I learned identity is based off where one is from, birthplace, skin color, but I’ve had different thoughts; identity is what one wants it to be and doesn’t have to be based off previously stated categories. Everyone defines themselves differently and that should be respected.

 

2) How does the work in your concentration demonstrate the exploration of your idea? You may refer to specific images as examples. When referencing specific images, please indicate the image numbers 

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My images show the manifestation of identity as the outward representation of how others view individuals. All the images with maps represent how everyone is labeled. The maps are the figures’ skin, as seen in 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, representing only the label; the outward appearance. I’ve always had the label of being Chinese: I look it and was born there. But having grown up in America, I don’t really associate with China. This is a struggle I’ve had to deal with: the struggle of how I look and therefore how society would label me and my own thoughts of identification. Image 5 shows the struggle between society and internal thoughts. It shows how we as people are bound by society. There’s a view society puts on individuals. I captured this by using maps that were picked at random. The use of maps on people helps to convey the message that people have their own way of identifying, but society has another way. My images show the struggle between how the individual identifies and how society identifies the individual.