homestyle melancholy

Item

Title

homestyle melancholy

Description

I had been thinking about this project for weeks and had wanted to come up with something meaningful yet simple. I used a KN95 mask, my iPhone, and my front yard at home in Wendell, NC. The example image of the man with the German medical mask is what inspired my portrait. But more importantly, Covid-19 inspired this portrait. When I first started reading about this assignment, I didn’t realize the mask assignment was directly related to COVID. I thought it could’ve meant a masquerade mask or really any kind of mask. The mask I chose is known to be one of the best protective masks that there is and it is definitely a mask that I would wear in public. This mask represents my identity in many ways. Because this is one of the most protective masks that there is, I think that it is symbolic and ironic because my life has been unprotected and risky. Masks are supposed to provide security and safety and I feel that this is a reflection of what life wasn’t always for me. I have had a privileged but very difficult life that contradicts itself, I know. I grew up out of the country and lived as a minority and dealt with many things that severed my security and safety as a person. This makes up so much of who I am. I have lived so long feeling not secure and not safe; both emotionally and physically. This also conveys Covid-19 in so many ways. I picked the mask to represent myself: simple yet gives the illusion of security. And the background represents Covid-19 when it started. Coronavirus has had such an impact on all of us in more ways than one, but it all started when we were asked to quarantine at home. Home is where most of us thought that this virus would only last a month or two but in reality, has lasted close to two years. We thought we would be protected and that the issue would be quickly resolved. I think this also symbolizes how I have dealt with Covid because it has grown my love for my family and desire to spend time with them at home. I know it became annoying to be at home so much and not have the freedom to leave, but it gave me a greater love for home because this is one of the few things that have given me security over the course of my life.

I took a black and white photo because I think it makes it feel timeless. I feel that covid has given us all a sense of timelessness because of how it has warped time in our lives. I think it is aesthetically pleasing because it is black and white but also because the background is blurred in comparison to me being focused in the center of the image. I think this is unique because instead of choosing to think extravagantly, I thought simply. I thought outside of the box by doing things simpler than I thought most people would. It represents how I have chosen to grow closer to home although I’ve moved further away to school. I think the mask itself represents the security I’ve grown to feel even though the world is so unsecure with everything going on. This image is ultimately artistic because it is a paradox.

Creator

Anonymous

Format

Image/Imagen

Date

2021-10-17

Coverage

Greenville, North Carolina

Item sets

Documenting COVID-19 in Eastern North Carolina

Media

masked 2.jpg

This item was submitted on November 29, 2021 by [anonymous user] using the form “Contribute a Digital Item/Done un Artículo/Producto Digital” on the site “Documenting COVID-19 in Eastern North Carolina”: http://collections.ecu.edu/os/s/ecucovid19