A Painting and Three Interviews

For my project I created a 30 by 40 inch painting that deals with body image. This painting is based off of a photo of myself, and a sketch of mine. Personally I have been dealing with self-esteem issues and concerns. This became an outlet for my issues and a way to talk about them. I filmed myself painting, since the process of painting is just as important as the final product. Because while painting I am faced with the issues I deal with.

I also interviewed a few friends, hoping our relationship would make the interviews less stressful and create a more comfortable environment. I interviewed three women, Joanna Trawinski, Tiffany Hale, and Belmira Silva. I also answered the same questions that I asked the women. The questions included; Do you feel beautiful today? Why or why not? How do you feel about the way women are portrayed in the media?  Do you feel compared to these women? Then they were asked about my paintings. And then they were free to add any other comments and speak their minds.

I got some interesting feedback and some different views from each of the women. I think asking each of them if they felt beautiful was a good way to break the ice, it’s not a question we as women get asked a lot. Sometimes it feels like nobody really cares to ask. And I do care. I wanted to know what made each woman feel beautiful. I wanted to get inside each of their minds. Everybody thinks differently and reacts differently to how society treats women, especially in the media.

Throughout the course, my eyes have been opened to the flaws in media and how prevalent they are. Now I unintentionally point out and realize the sexism in almost everything. It made me feel like I had to do something, even if it’s just asking a few simple questions to a few women and recording their answers. I think that publishing this for many people to see will give them the comfort of knowing that somebody feels the same, or that people are talking about these topics.

It seems, based on the recordings I have gathered, that women have hope for change. They think that ideals are changing and the media is more accepting of women “out of the norm”. An example mentioned was Rebel Wilson, and how women similar to her, Adele, are breaking societal norms and are widely accepted. But it is also true they are scrutinized harshly, like how Joan Rivers ridiculed Adele about her weight on television. But I think that hope is good, we need that. We need to believe that change will happen and we need to make it happen.

           

The point of this video is to put these voices out there. I want these voices to be heard. This needs to be talked about. Many people have self-esteem issues and worry about their looks. But I believe that if more people are open about it and talk about it, that people will change how they feel.

The women chose not to be filmed, but only have their voices recorded. I respected their choices, and only used the audio, subjecting myself to the camera for a majority of the video. 

About the painting:

It is a self portrait, based off of a photo of myself. I used the rosy, blush color to represent shame or embarrassment. The figure is holding herself, trying to cover herself. Her hair is embracing her, and trying to hide and cover her. The feeling that i tried to express is that of uncomfortableness with ones body. She is almost in a fetal position, retracting herself into a ball. 

If anybody wishes to explore my artwork further, feel free to visit My Website .