Selfie in a Mask

Item

Title: Selfie in a Mask
Description: My name is Hiral and I am a senior majoring in Public Health! I am the captain and founder of ECU’s Bollywood Fusion dance team/club sport- ECU Khazana! My interests include dance of course as well as creating art. I recently got into resin art while quarantine was the peak of COVID-19. I was so tired of being in my room that I ordered supplies from amazon and did some art in my garage at home. I ended up going viral on TikTok and started my own Etsy page! This has definitely opened my eyes to the science behind the art as well. I plan on creating more variety of art in the future. My background in the arts started ever since elementary school. I would always sign up for an art class every year and progressed up until AP Art in high school. I have been a part of Charlotte’s annual Project the Runway as part of a chosen and skilled team in which we all created an outfit from 100% recycled materials. This engaged my creative side to think of other possibilities as well. I have also always seen my dad create art ever since I was a little girl. He majored in graphic design and I vividly remember helping him create all of his projects- whether it be modeling, helping with lighting, shadows, etc. He showed me how to draw shadows on all of his sketches and I guess it has been embedded into my head ever since.

My process started with coming up with a concept of COVID-19. I knew that COVID-19 is what initiated my art journey into something magical. I have fallen in love with photography, art, photoshop, etc. With all three of these combined, I was able to create art that people could buy for themselves, or gift to others. It made me happy to know that people all over the nation were interested in what I had to offer. I thought of some meaningful materials to symbolize what my experience with COVID-19 has been. The use of mirrors became a thought I had to figure out and it worked. I wanted to make my eyes the “lens” of the camera but not literally. By lens, I mean mirrors! It is a lovely reflection in which you can warp objects with the use of a variety of mirrors or have a mirror-to-mirror reflection. I came up with this idea in my head, I did not want to get inspiration from another artist because it would be less of a challenge for me.

This is not a protective mask. I would wear this in public if I wanted to do a photoshoot or display the rest of my art pieces in a way to describe my journey. The mirrored mask represents what I have learned during COVID-19 by reflecting and looking back at memories that I fond over. It is a self-portrait because a part of my identity is shown on my body through art. The mask shows how much a camera means to me. Capturing moments during quarantine was very important to me as well as looking back at photos before the quarantine. I have dealt with the Coronavirus situation by using my camera and phone to create art that I will always look back at and say, “wow, I really used quarantine time to reflect, think, and grow.”

I took the photo I did because I wanted the reflection to be visible through the mirrors. The point is to see the camera as well as the reflective background. I like how the mask’s shape flows upward rather than covers my entire face. Using a camera to hide my mouth is symbolism for the camera to be the main speaker. Looking through the camera from the mirror is what captures the image. It represents how I am dealing with this time period by reflecting on past memories and moments that have been captured through a lens. I have sat in my bed for countless hours not knowing what to do and this opened my eyes to capturing more moments with a camera to later look back at and reminisce on. Without my phone/camera, I also would not have been successful with my Etsy shop! Quarantine time influenced a strong decision to start creating and recording my art and I am so glad I took that huge step!
This was created as an assignment for Susan Ludeke's ART 1910: Art Appreciation course.
Creator: Gajera, Hiral
Format: Personal Reflection/Comentario Personal
Date: 2022-03-14
Coverage: Charlotte, North Carolina

Item sets: Documenting COVID-19 in Eastern North Carolina

Media: artproject.jpg

This item was submitted on April 28, 2022 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

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