Color Me Complex

Everyone is unique and that also means they are complicated and multifaceted. Another way to say it is that people have many faces. "Color Me Complex" is a digital work that expresses the intricacies of individuals. This piece depicts a self-portrait of a woman's back covered in mandala-like designs resembling that of full-body tattoos. The woman is positioned in a very strong, feminine stance that resembles a type of silhouette form. The shapes that are included are flowers, curves, leaves, the female symbol, waves, and other abstract lines, shapes, and forms that I feel represent me. It is black and white with hints of my favorite bright colors, including green, blue, yellow, orange, purple and pink. The background is a watercolor style of blurred colors to express feelings of being myself and the excitement, confidence, and power that I have as the individual I am. This work expresses not only me, but any individual and all the pieces and parts that make up who they are, from personality and thoughts to ideologies and passions. Individuals are multi-faceted and the use of shape, form, and color exists in the artwork to express this idea. This work takes me back to my early high school years where I was obsessed with doodling my own original mandala-like designs that covered all of my school papers. I combined my high school doodles into a work that describes and images myself, being a complex and multi-faceted individual, who identifies as a woman. This work represents women, power, individuality, and identity. Visually, the complexities are produced through overwhelming use of colors and mandala-like designs which are placed on top of the body of a woman. Humans are so complex that no one can define or decide everything about a person without being that individual, but even then, full self-awareness is difficult to achieve. If one were to have to fit all the aspects of themselves onto one page, it would be an overwhelming amount of information, thus my use of overwhelming repetition and color in this artwork. Everyone seems to be maintaining or developing identity throughout life, thus I feel this work is very relatable and widely understandable because of its implications of tattooing one's body for self expression. The growing independence and claiming of identity which the world is producing and which contemporary society is nurturing, proves that this idea is relevant and important, therefore easily connected with. Personally, this piece is a self portrait that contains many ideas about myself, what identity I am forming for myself, and who I want to be. However, I have not yet fully lived my life and so there are blank areas where patterns are yet to be created. This work has allowed me to manage and explore my identity through piecing myself together in designs. This work is inspired by my childhood self, but expresses my future self who is clear in who she is and why she is. I hope that others get inspired to hone-in on their own identities and complexities and not allow people to define who they are, because you are not a stereotype.