Trace

TRACE  (trās) :

verb

1. 1.

   find or discover by investigation.
2. 
   
3. 2. copy (a drawing, map, or design) 
4. by drawing over its lines on a superimposed piece of transparent paper..

noun

1. 1.

   a mark, object, or other indication of the existence or passing of something.
2. 2.
   
   
   a very small quantity, especially one too small to be accurately measured.

Oil Pastel on Paper

I found a great deal of inspiration from this week's word and poem, so instead of the usual exploration of portraiture via pen and paper, I decided to create an architectural landscape using oil pastels - a medium that I haven't used since I was a child.

The image portrays a view from the town of St-Paul-de-Vence in southern France. The town is unique in its cobblestone pathways that bend their way through a maze of small streets, contained inside a wall atop a hill in the French Riviera. It has some of the most picturesque views I've ever seen, and (not surprisingly) has become known for its artistic culture and rich collection of museums and galleries. 

My family used to travel to this part of the world every summer as my sisters and I were growing up. Each year, my parents would photograph the three of us on the same corner in this town, just a couple minutes away from where the view above can be seen. In revisiting our collection of photographs from each year, I have realized that they have become a tool to measure my childhood experiences. In each photograph, I am taken back to the time it was shot, and remember pieces of my childhood that were otherwise forgotten. I can reflect on how things have changed, and also how some memories reveal the personalities of my sisters and myself today. St-Paul-de-Vence and the collection of childhood memories that it holds has become a trace of my own life and my changing conception of personal identity. 

Identity

IDENTITY  (ˌīˈden(t)ədē) :

noun

1. 1.

   the fact of being who or what a person or thing is:
2. 
   

1. 2.

   a close similarity or affinity:

(This is for you, Tony 😉...)

David Fishers poem "The Bear" inspired me to reflect on my own understanding of what the word "identity" means, and how we each define it. The bear has been defined by his performance career; he understands his role in the world as one to entertain in front of a crowd. He is thrust out of that world, and his own understanding of how he ought to live begins to dissolve. The poem ends with the bear playing his tricks in the forest to an invisible audience, solemnly carrying out the only role in which he knows his own place in the world. 

Identity. The concept of defining one's self. How do we know who we are? 

We have experiences, and memories. We recognize familiarity and repetition, and we find comfort in the predictable, knowing where we stand in relation to the world around us. And once that familiarity starts to change - as we grow up, and the world continues to move forward - we continuously must redefine our own understanding of ourselves. 

Sometimes it's really hard, or even impossible. 

The bear's feeling of loneliness and confusion is familiar to all of us. When we move to a new place, when a loved one dies, when the world around us starts to change in unfamiliar or frightening ways; we are constantly challenged to reflect and redefine who we are, and who we understand ourselves to be - what role we ought to play in the world around us. 

In that sense, I have always been curious if there is really a way we can understand our own true selves, beyond what the world and our environment does. If there is really a true identity in all of us that stands independent of our experiences and surroundings. And how do we start to access it and understand ourselves without letting the world around us interfere.

I'm not sure if it's possible. But I'm still trying. 

Mask

MASK  (mask) :

noun

1. 1.

   a covering for all or part of the face, worn as a disguise, or to amuse or terrify other people.
2. 
   
3. 
   
4. 2.   a covering made of fiber or gauze and fitting over the nose and mouth to protect against dust or air pollutants, or made of sterile gauze and worn to prevent infection of the wearer or (in surgery) of the patient.

verb

1. 1.

   cover (the face) with a mask.
2. 
   

Ink on Paper

Tide

TIDE  (tīd) :

noun

1. 1.

   the alternate rising and falling of the sea, usually twice in each lunar day at a particular place, due to the attraction of the moon and sun.

verb

1. 1.

   drift with or as if with the tide.

Ink and Graphite on Paper