Self Unveiled
Exhibition Dates: 10 December 2004 to 31 December 2004
Artist Statement :
Nowhere are we so deeply concerned with the attempt to identify and understand the essence of true Self.
The development of the human spirit carries with it a need to learn about and understand our true self – to find our true and natural place in the physical and spiritual world that surrounds us and lies within us – the desire to find peace in identity and being.
The understanding of true Self lies in the forces that dwell deep within us. We may create and switch identities to match our surroundings. We may wear our identity like a veil switching and changing to cope and survive the social, cultural, and political environments and human interactions we find the Self in. We may carry our identity rigidly presenting a self we believe the world wants to see, and showing a Self we imagine we and the world wants us to be.
The true Self is the self that eventually looks beneath the created, imposed and imagined identities, through a tapestry of thoughts, experiences, values and emotions to find a real and true identity. This process often takes form when the natural self-starts to become alienated from the created identities. This process may evolve over time in stages, or emerge dramatically.
Are the true Self layers of experience and human interaction applied to a spiritual core? Is Self the sum and total of our created defences, identities and experiences? Or is the true Self the naked core which has been blurred, defocused and filtered through those same layers? In order to complete the journey to find the true Self, do we need to remove the layers, or simply be able to see through them and understand them.
Concept
In this exhibition the objective was to create works that attempts to unveil and show the true Self in degrees, portraying different elements of Self within the structure of each composition.
The visual elements attempt to show and focus on concepts that deal with social issues affecting Self by trying to allow the viewer to visualise the complexity of Self.
There are works that show how Self develops through different stages and attempts to show the unveiling or breaking down of the conventional boundaries that affect Self. Other works allow the viewer to journey into the space within Self with strong colours used to depict layers, moods and emotions. Paint and structured composition with a multi-layered technique are used to display and define the complexities within the Self.
