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'Look at me' nr. 2

The artwork is a mix of realistic paint art and word and digital print art. 

 

The desciption: 

 

We all have a history. 

The story of our life, our memories. 

Some people know this story or a piece of it, sometimes they think they know it. 

Maybe someone simply doesn’t admit it, or they lie to themselves, but usually we only know a small piece of truth. 

Others can see only a part of us, the rest is a mystery, sometimes even to ourselves. 

 

My works represent this mystery and the clear and visible part represents what we know about ourselves, or think we know, that is the part we show about ourselves and that others think is the truth.

 

Words, on the other hand, are our experiences, the moments of the past, the thoughts that represent the person and that constitute him or her, whether they are conscious or subconscious. As in life, in fact, thoughts and experiences, memories and events make us what we are in the present. 

Words cross each other, some are detached, they have different dimensions and brightness; this represents the layers of our ego. 

It is therefore up to the observer to imagine and interpret the thoughts and history behind them, even if, as in real life, nobody really knows the truth, sometimes not even ourselves. 

In the mind of the viewer - as in reality, when we interact with a person - words and image manipulate and influence the person in front of us and create an image of the subject that is always different.

One wonders, therefore, why these words are put together in this way. We wonder about the identity of the person we are interacting with and observing. Moreover, from a distance the effect of these words on the wood may seem as if they were printed by a defective printer, as if different levels were on top of each other. This causes a sense of confusion, as it could be in real life. Sometimes we do not understand other people.

 

The paint on top of the words and wood represents people’s insecurities. These can make us appear different, they can hide the truth inside us: “Am I good enough, beautiful enough, courageous enough?”. 

 

In addition to all this, the artworks are made on wood, an “organic” material whose texture - the wood veins - is formed during the tree’s growth. 

The rings and veins, in the artwork, show us the external influences that intersect between the words. The external life that influences our thoughts and influences the course of our lives. This effect therefore manipulates the thoughts of the person portrayed in the work and the latter manipulates the observer. 

 

At last I decided to represent all this inside a square since the observer sees an isolated instant, which conveys an idea of stagnation and stabilization. It is the image of a person as he is. It doesn’t go beyond. It is stuck in the middle of these four sides. 

 

The name of the project is “Look at me”.  

So look at the paintings and question yourselves: What do I see? What is the truth? What is the true story?

Observe how situations change people and show us how they are and, depending on the experiences and external influences, they appear to us in another light; how the painting, seen from different positions and under different lights, can show you things that you did not see before.

 

Mandy Rietdijk

Mandy Rietdijk

Artwork Collection:

» Look at me

Artwork Details

Painting - Acrylic
Artwork Size - Width 45 | Height 45 | Depth 1.4
Created on 26 July 2020

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