Final Project- "Beyond Your Reflection"

I am very intrigued with the thought of reflections. There are so many different aspects one can take upon hearing the word. After learning about Eleanor Antin and then doing some research on her, I became quite inspired. She likes to create pieces representing her different selves; for example, she created her male self  by putting a beard on her face. The many representations she came up with just amazed me. This allowed me to develop my idea of reflections. In my piece I want the viewer to be able to feel. That is all, just feel. Once they observe my piece they will reflect upon themselves. I believe each viewer is going to feel a different way when they look at my piece, so it is not right to tell them how they should feel.

Using a mirror as the base of my piece was done to really force the viewer to reflect, in a literal and figurative way. Looking at a mirror usually always means that the person is trying to make their appearance appropriate for the situation they will put themselves into. More so, to "look good" before they appear in  the public eye. The public eye is represented as the eyes that are viewed throughout my piece. The eyes are staring right back at the viewer when the viewer is at his/her most vulnerable state of mind. The mirror is also cracked  and jagged and the glass is frosted over. The idea is that when the viewer is looking into the mirror they see an unexpected distorted reflection and cannot clearly see themselves in order to avoid the perfect reflection the viewer is always looking for.

I created this piece to show that not everyone is perfect and that whatever feeling is created by observing this piece should always be thought of when looking in a mirror. You can't always get the appearance you want, but the appearance you already have is the best one.