Over time, the arts have demonstrated their reliability as a means of disseminating knowledge to the general public. From the time of Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Pablo Picasso, art has continued to address different social issues. Through potent representations that aid in the construction of views that frequently change depending on the context, art aids in the exploration of deeply buried emotions and gives them life. For a very long period, identity formation through art has been possible. Imperatively, the arts explore fundamental characteristics like gender, sexuality, cultural legacy, and religion affiliations while also challenging stereotypical settings of society and its conventions. Since every individual culture is characterized by values considered unique to it, it becomes imperative to take cognizance of the fact that culture is influenced greatly by various aspects of artistic and social endeavors.
Art and personal identity are two different entities that share a unique kind of relationship in that art provides an avenue to understand the revelations of underlying identities that possess unique meaning and values that cumulatively represent individual and community identities. According to Haslam and Stephen (21), personal identity closely mirrors that of the community which in itself is a dynamic and evolving concept that continues to develop over time to reflect the personal values unique to an individual. According to Sartre et al. (344), personal identity of an individual primarily comes from the cultural environment that provides the necessary platform where individual and community identities are manifested. Also, art represents the fundamental building pillars that support the ever-evolving identity of individual personas and the community at large.
The Conceptualized Piece of Art
Based on the conventional concept of self-portraiture, the intended piece of art will utilize cameras and other related tools encountered in cinematography on daily basis. The various tools will include makeup, costumes and elaborate designs of stage scenery to help in the creation of a more common illusion or a snapshot of iconic proportions that evokes the inherent concepts of self-confidence, feminism, sexual adventure and various aspects socially sanctioned conditions that influence identity and the understanding of individual relationships.
The intended piece of art is expected to unravel several aspects of self-identity with a primary focus on sexual identity which has become a global phenomenon especially with the clamor for equal rights to androgynous people and same-sex marriages(Cote and Charles 199).. The piece of art will depict two ladies with similar physical features in their physiological anatomy but with one altered slightly to appear more masculine while retaining the feminine features corresponding to the other female image. The logic behind the portrait will help to stimulate and advance the concept of accepting the diversity of human sexuality and how it affects the identity of the androgynous individuals from the community’s perspective and how the same community responds towards accepting accommodating the diversity. The piece of art titled “Marrying Mary” will help to demystify the misconceptions that the community have towards LGBT groups and focus on realigning the society’s stereotypical view of the identity of those professing different sexual orientations and identities.
The photographic portraiture will embody artistic intensity founded on the present cultural domain of social identity while adopting and pursuing the conventional artistic procedures that force the audiences to rethink and reconsider the prevailing stereotypes and cultural assumptions often depicted in other forms of media (Cote and Charles 208). The other socially critical fields that can provide a platform for the art piece, “Marrying Mary” include caricature, graphic novel, and aspects of political satire. The other main focus, other than focusing on identity, will be the need to create notable features to resonate with the audience especially by creating facial features that appear to confront the gaze of the viewers to possibly suggest the underlying penchant for emancipation from victimization and discrimination. Additionally, the self-portraiture will mirror reality with precision in details in such a simultaneously way that the thematic concern is constructed and critiqued by the photography details. Therefore, portrait photography applied in the portrait “Marrying Mary” will at provoking the subjective tendency of human intelligence.
Significance of the Art, “Marrying Mary” in Personal Identity
The significance of the art “Marrying Mary” is embedded on its ability to connect the community to historically prominent injustices that LGBT groups have endured and the discrimination that comes with the difficulty to understand their personal identities. The art attempts to create a future possibility of cultural integration that will create a society where people will not be judged based on their cultural, sexual orientation and religious affiliations but a just and free society that accommodates everyone based on their diverse identities (Guthrie 171). As such, the art will reverse stereotypes through innovative ways to combat misunderstandings that have remained prevalent in the society to this day. The art will promote inclusion through its message intended for public viewership. The depictions in the self-portrait will greatly enhance personal identity by dispelling myths associated with minority groups in the community.
Building a sense of identity that people can relate to entails elaborate emphasis on the need to exercise patience and tenacity in order to puncture the myths traditionally held within the society and as such, the art “Marrying Mary” will help to paint a more meaningful and significant of the often marginalized and distrusted people in the society to reveal their personal identities in the context of realism. Additionally, the piece of art will attempt to establish trust and meaningful relationships with the community.
Haslam and Stephen (26), suggests that every community deserves to preserve and protects certain traditions, the piece of art will aim to foster cultural identity with specific emphasis on the need to also accommodate personal identity of other people viewed as not conforming to traditions. The authenticity of each culture can only be enhanced by conformity to its traditions but the modern world has heralded a new dawn for the marginalized identities to fight for their values and belief without fear of retribution from the same community that accommodates them (Guthrie 171). Conversely, the need to provide the right balance between integration and inclusion will help in the development and advancement of personal identities while also enriching the identities of the community as a common unit.
Conclusion
With the dawn of contemporary art, art continues to influence cultures, belief systems and self-perception in such a way that social and cultural identities get constructed. Consequently, the constructed identities ultimately influence the development of personal identities and this is where art becomes important as a medium through which such identities can be shared with the community. As such, art continues to play a significant role in expressing personal identity within the community. Sartre et al. (412), suggest that what influences a person can be well understood through exploration of personal identity. As such, art communicates relationships in details and the messages portrayed in art most often stimulate thinking and the audience get the opportunity to understand art and how it relates to their circumstances.
Works Cited
Cote, James E., and Charles G. Levine. Identity, formation, agency, and culture: A social psychological synthesis. Psychology Press, 2014.
Guthrie, Jason Lee. "The Art of Self Invention: Image and Identity in Popular Visual Culture." MEIEA Journal 16.1 (2016): 171.
Haslam, S. Alexander, and Stephen D. Reicher. "Rethinking the psychology of leadership: from personal identity to social identity." Daedalus 145.3 (2016): 21-34.
Sartre, Jean-Paul, John Kulka, Annie Cohen-Solal, Carol Macomber, Carol Macomber, and Arlette Elkaïm-Sartre. Existentialism Is a Humanism. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 2007. Print.
