In June 2010, when I was still 15, I
took part in an arts project with my class mates
from the Section Européenne from Saint-Eugène lycée: an exhibition
we set up called “Are you lookin' at
me?!” about self-portraits.
Everyone has their own idea about what
a self-portrait is. I think a good portrait of oneself is one that
reveals who we are “inside”, our feelings and thoughts...
I tried to talk
about myself through a series of 19 snapshots entitled “Leg-ends”.
My feet are shown in different guises which
reflect a particular humor, an idea or a saying... People, especially
adolescents, are often ashamed of their bodies, and especially their
feet. They are victims of the social norms concerning the “beauty”
of the body. But everyone has to stand their feet, because we have to
stand on them!
Feet are a misunderstood part of the
body. For Instance, in China, for over a thousand years, women had
their feet wrapped tightly in bandages to make them as small as
possible. Chinese education mainly imposed submission and social
conformity. This practice restricted women’s freedom. The small
size of the foot was synonymous with high social status and beauty.
Creating a self-portrait was a good way
for me to think about my self-image, but it was not a narcissistic
exercise. Frida Khalo's self-portraits inspired me; her work is not
self-indulgent, it is about the physical and psychological suffering
we all go through at some point in our lives.
Our exhibition was fun, but also
thought-provoking. It made me realise that I have something to say,
that I have quite a bit of imagination, and that others are in fact
interested in what I have to express...
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