Found Object

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My piece is an exploration of the self-portrait. The work I make holds its roots in the narcissistic artistic practice of exploring and representing self. I explore self through the visibility of my intersections, what it means to represent people of my class; fat people, ambiguously coloured people, queer people, people who identify as female. I understand my visibility is important, and as a queer native woman I don't see myself in many places. The spaces I do see myself in media are problematic or worse, unmentionable. In the making, I fashioned myself to have the qualities of an action hero figure, posable and active next to the societal images mirrored in Marvel and Detective Comics characters. This exploration of my image is a narrative of class and esteem in found objects. Second hand and thrift stores are spaces where we find pieces of ourselves and the mystery of found objects. The strength of objects found in thrift stores does not rest in their context, but in the contexts of the viewer. Objects held in esteem by people from all sects of life are marked to sell, and the meaningfulness of an object varies widely from one shopper to another.