Introduction to 3 artists... Vanessa Beecroft, Gillian Wearing, and Nikki S. Lee.

I have been thinking alot about how my work is in fact about identity. I found some books and artists that deal with identity. The first book, cleverly called "ID", explores artists that use this theme in their work. One of the artists, Vanessa Beecroft, uses performances with women in a gallery space. All the women will look similar to eachother and they all wear similar clothing (underwear, pantyhose, corsets, wigs...). Then they all do the same mundane action, whether it be sitting,standing, or just walking around.





Another artist I find to be inspiring for my work is Gillian Wearing. She is also featured in the book "ID" because she focuses on not only her own identity but also the identities of strangers. In one piece she has people tell their confessions while wearing silly masks so that their identities will not be revealed. In another body of work she has people on the streets write a message on a board and present it to the camera as she takes their photograph. It exposes the way that they really feel. A more famous picture from that series is a well dressed man holding a sign that reads, "I'm desperate."






I another book, The Jewish Identity Book, Nikki S. Lee is featured in her series "The Wedding". In this series she is the bride of a jewish wedding. The way she plays off of identity even more is in each photograph there is a different man as her groom. Lee states that, "It's about how my personality gets affected by other personalities." She also says, "I think everyone has within themall these different characters, and they emerge through the people they are with." . In another series called "Projects" Lee takes on different identities to fit into certain groups. She changes her hair, weight, clothing, and makeup all to fit in with the surrounding group. Some of the groups have been the yuppies, the latinos, the skaters, and the punks. Most of the photographs are snapshots and are taken by a member of the group she is with at the time.

I find that these artists indeed realte with the work I am doing. As I have been shooting I havn't been completly sure what I am trying to say or why I am taking pictures of myself as these different characters. I have been interested in the idea of relationships but more so I think that I am interested in the idea of myself in a relationship and how or why I feel like a different person. We have certain names in relationships... partner, girlfriend, wife, mother, friend. All of these names hold value. But does the name change your indentity?

In the book "ID" they ask the question, "Do you exist because you exist, or do you exist only through the eyes of others?" I found this question to be very important to what I think i'm feeling... annndd I feel like I am getting closer to what I am trying to say with the photographs I am making right now!!