Social Bias Series: Race & Gender
“It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals.”
Emma Watson
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Title: Cooper, 2020
Medium: Acrylic paint on paper
Concept: Many males feel a social pressure to be popular, to excel in sports, to fit in as “one of the guys”, and showing too much emotion and feeling can also be viewed as “unmasculine”. I used symbolism to focus on Cooper’s sensitivity and strength, and the choice to embrace all sides of him as a person regardless of gender and what society deems masculine; Dogwood is symbolic of rebirth and strength, pink azalea of sensitivity, and wisteria’s abundant clusters of an expanded consciousness and growth.
Title: Ali, 2020
Medium: Acrylic paint on paper
Concept: This narrative portrait seeks to portray the confines of society’s perception and expectations of individuals based on ethnicity and gender. People cannot change these parts of themselves, and it is difficult to not feel, at one point or another, bound within one’s own skin by the social limitations imposed on that aspect of their identity.
By using a traditionally “female” color, pink, I meant to reference not only the gender restraints through the color palette, but also the racial restraints through the stark background of black and white, and the white, loose linework above suggests the framework of a barrier that Ali is facing.
Title: Desmond, 2020
Medium: Alcohol ink on mylar
Concept: This portrait of a fellow Hotchkiss student expresses the conflict he felt to conform to the social expectations of how to act around individuals of the opposite gender as a heterosexual male versus enjoying the company of people regardless of how they identify.
Bluebirds, symbolic of joy and freedom, contrast with the constraining nature of social pressure represented by the gripping hands around Desmond’s neck. I chose to use alcohol ink in this piece because, by nature, its fluidity allows the ink to spread freely outward, yet it is bound by the edges of the mylar; just as Desmond has the natural desire to be free in his actions, he is bound by social views. The use of complementary colors, blue and orange, symbolizes the conflict of being free.
Title: Atalia, 2020
Medium: Acrylic paint on paper
Concept: This emotive portrait is meant to evoke the sense of isolation and loneliness Atalia felt as she struggled to fit within societal standards before ultimately learning to shed those bounds. To express the emotion in this narration, I attempted a more loose and expressive rendering of Atalia, veering away from fine details and careful mark-making, and using a wider brush to focus on the light and dark planes of her face, body, and hair, before using a smaller brush for finishing touches.
Title: Oliver, 2019
Medium: Charcoal powder, spray glue, ink, Conte sticks, sandpaper, duralar paper.
Concept: Oliver is the first piece I created in this series focusing on the theme of social bias, specifically as it relates to race and gender. Each portrait reflects the experiences of my peers and the challenges of implicit bias and microaggressions they faced.
Social expectations for gender roles and the pressure to conform within a specific “box“ can be overwhelming. In Oliver, I attempted to convey through mood and composition society’s suppressive view of what qualifies as being a man, and the emotional turmoil that comes with trying to answer that question.
Title: What it Means to Be a Woman, 2020
Medium: Acrylic paint on paper
Concept: This is a surrealist-inspired piece illustrating a distorted standard of beauty for females. Through the skeletal frame, swan neck, hourglass figure, and disproportionately long legs, I attempted to convey the popularized view of the ideal female body in order to portray its true objectifying nature.
Title: Mask of Beauty, 2020
Medium: Acrylic paint on paper
Concept: We live in an interconnected world where every culture has its own definition of beauty. To live by one standard and obtain a manufactured version of it is to take away the diversity and authenticity of one’s true beauty.
As a Japanese American female growing up in Connecticut, my exposure to other Asian cultures, or even my own culture, has been limited. It is easy to believe that beauty is defined by Western, Euro-centric facial characteristics, and hopefully, this piece speaks to the culture of using makeup and plastic surgery as a means to achieve this “look.” Mask of Beauty is a combination of various figures, and the concept is a mixture of my own and other people’s experiences with beauty standards as Asian Americans.