UNCOMFORTABLE? is my project chosen to focus on strengthening my technique through masking in Photoshop, exaggerating my expressions in self-portraiture, creating an uncomfortable feeling in my audience, and discussing the objectification of women. I have learned in this class how to mask properly and have made it a key element of my work's style. Masking has opened my eyes creatively and has allowed me to create more than I could before. I have also found that I have a hard time expressing emotions in self-portraiture, so I chose to use this project to practice, which has helped exponentially. 

I was inspired by Hank Willis Thomas’s Branded Head, with its deep but uncomfortable feeling it evoked in me when I saw this piece and his other works. This project made me think about my capstone and how I could improve the ways I express emotions through facial expressions so the audience can read the emotions I want them to feel. My capstone pieces are deep, and people do feel the way I want them to feel, but I could improve. To improve, I choose to create forthright themes like a face on a balloon, terrified of the pin nearby, or a tooth pulled from someone's mouth, both straightforward and equally unsettling. 

As I made my pieces, I realized the overall concept isn’t as straightforward as I thought. The pink balloon, pomegranate, and overall hints of femininity and the creation of life in objects ultimately led to a discussion of the objectification of women. This piece became conversational, allowing me and others to examine the objectification of women. A study from the National Library of Medicine shows that viewing another person as an instrument is known as objectification. I feel my pieces really focus on how the act of viewing women as mere objects or things, rather than as whole human beings, is objectifying women. Which, by creating myself into objects, has allowed that conversation to happen. It enables us to discuss how we can stop objectification and why we do it.

In creating, UNCOMFORTABLE? I made a set of five images that, together, improved understanding of masking and expressions, created straightforward themes, elicited an uncomfortable response from my audience, and raised awareness of the objectification of women.