Beneath The Surface

The work of art that I chose has no specific title. I found this piece of work while searching art blogs hoping to find something that would click with me. As I was searching these blogs I came across this piece and I read what the person who posted the picture had written. It hit me like no other piece of art had hit me before. I looked through about 20-30 art blogs searching for something but as soon as this popped out I knew it was the art that I had to write about. I chose this because it shows my view point on what is happening to people. I believe that this piece of art means that people are hiding behind a mask in order to protect themselves or others they hide their true emotions.

            The photograph depicts a young girl, hiding behind a mask. Her hair is tucked behind her ear on the closest side, and the rest is pushed around her opposite shoulder. She is surrounded by a dark background and thick smoke. The mask resembles a Japanese style dragon, but it is hard to completely decipher. The mask, although not completely on her face, creates a shadow that disguises her face completely. The whole piece is in black and white. It seems the piece of work’s theme is that everybody hides their true feelings. The subject that the artwork portrays is that people hide behind masks of happiness, sorrow, and anger. People do this to protect themselves from harm because if no one knows that you are hurting then you will be alright in the end. Hiding what you feel can be harmful in the end because the ones who seem the strongest one the outside are usually a hurricane of sorrow on the inside. In the work of art the woman is hiding her face we have no clue her emotion but the piece gives off a sorrowful mood in the way that it is portrayed. The artist used dark colors in order to give of a somber vibe when the piece of work is looked at. The woman is hidden in the shadows of the mask showing that the mask hides her face, her emotions. This piece of art is meant for people that feel they have to hide who they are from everyone.

            I do not know who created this piece of work and I know nothing about their life. I know that whoever created this piece of art feels sorrow on the inside. The events during our life influence how we feel I believe something happened in this person’s life to make them feel as if they needed to hide who they were. They most likely weren’t accepted by their peers or someone close to them hurt them. They went in hiding; they put on a mask and hid who they were. They hid from the world so they couldn’t be hurt again. Hiding can only do so much eventually you have to take off the mask and show who you really are.

            I found this piece of art while searching blogs hoping to simply find something that I could write about for my English class. I didn’t expect to find something that I could relate to something that I actually had an opinion on. Being in college I realize the people that I meet could be hiding who they are from me and why would they not because I have given them no reason to trust me. I personally feel as if this picture was meant to be found by me. All the other blogs had pieces of art that did absolutely nothing for me and once I found this it was instant. I admit that I hide who I am every single day. I put on a façade to protect myself because if you think about it we are all fragile. People think being broken physically is bad but if you are broken emotionally then does it really matter what your physical state is. I hide from my family and friends because why would they accept me? I have been rejected in the past for simply showing who I was because I thought they would accept me. They did not and I have felt that nobody would accept who I am. I realize that this is a bleak outlook on life but it is how I feel. I also have realized that I am changing every single day. The mask that hides who I am is still on but it is being removed a little every day. A single event makes me come out from the shadow of the mask to reveal who I am to other people. The mask helped me forget about my problems just for a little while but it is time that I face those problems head on and learn to not rely on a protective shell.

            The artist was trying to express their feelings towards society hiding who they really are. Everybody hides behind a façade and nobody reveals who they really are. I believe that the original audience that this was intended for most likely felt the same as the artist because the people it was intended for probably hid their true self like the artist. I say this because everybody hides who they are in some way.

            The piece makes me realize that I feel the same as the artist but that I am slowly slipping off the mask with each passing day. It makes me think that society as a whole is hiding they all are just lying to themselves and everybody else about who they are. If everybody is lying about who they really are then the people we know are not who they say they are. It is a never ending cycle of lies until someone has the guts to take off their mask. The way the piece of art is portrayed shows the artist’s outlook on life, society, and people in general. It shows that he/she was hiding who they were and they realized that everybody else does it to.

            This artist was brave enough to point out what is wrong with people. The artist pointed out the lie that we tell ourselves and other people. The facade that we intentionally construct in order to protect ourselves from everybody else, the artist pointed out the flaw in society the lies. I connected with this work of art but I am just one person, one opinion in a whole planet. This is a work of art and I hope that it will connect with someone else and they will be able to better understand who they are through the art.