(no subject)
Alrighty! Here's the long, long, LONG overdue thesis and asking of submissions for my Senior Project. It's long, but it's from me, so that should be expected. Please read the entire thing, even if you don't think you'll do it, and pass it on to anyone you think who might.
My artwork has always served as a way of opening up a line of communication with people around me when I find it difficult to do so otherwise. Just within this past year I did a series of self-portraits that started what would become important conversations about my struggle with an eating disorder. I credit these drawings and how they forced me to confront and confess to my disorder publicly for helping me gather the courage to take the steps I needed to begin recovery, as well as for discovering how not alone I was during a time that had me feeling isolated from the world. That feeling of not being alone had a very profound impact upon me, and I began to see the importance of communicating held back emotions and insecurities. Knowing that there were others out there who had gone through similar or worse situations as me, and had ended up happy and healthy, gave me hope for achieving the same for myself one day.
It is that sense of hope from the shared experience that I wish to continue to offer up with my work. The portraits I have done of myself broke down barriers between myself and others so that I could learn to open up and express myself, and also learn that the insecurities that I feel about my own body are shared - to some extent - with everyone else. Everyone has a part of the body that they will never be satisfied with, a little bit flub that won’t go away, a scar that’s too noticeable, or a part of their body that just didn’t develop “normally,” and it’s those parts of our bodies that we become fixated on. Our ‘problem areas’ become so obvious to us that it may be hard to conceive that no one else notices them but us. The failure to recognize that there is a difference between our personal perceptions of self, and how others really see us, can lead to feelings of insecurity, both minor and extreme. If people knew how inconspicuous their ‘problem areas’ were, or how the feeling of insecurity wasn’t only limited to them, they may be able to come to terms with those feelings and begin to heal.
For this, I am looking to expand my project of portraits beyond the realm of myself. I feel as if that choice would only limit my work to being able to be connected to by people with eating disorders and/or other body image issues. I wish to make the connection-power of the pieces transcend beyond just a specific condition and touch on aspects that all people can relate to; that is, for the pieces to represent a more purely human experience. To do this, however, I need include others from all different backgrounds with all different problems. For this, I’m asking for people to participate in this portrait series and contribute their own photos for this project. (Contributors must be of age 18 or over to avoid any possible legal ramifications of using underage models.)
The photo may be of any segment of the body or body part that may make you feel insecure, preferably taken from a first-person point of view (or “how you see it”) or third-person point of view if it can’t be captured properly. HOWEVER, please try to exclude parts of the body that would make you identifiable to the viewer, such as full-face shots, or any identifying tattoo(s) or piercing(s) that would be hard to “edit out” while drawing them. This is first and foremost to protect the identity of the person in the portrait, as well as to add to the human experience part of the project. Also, the image should be taken to give the illusion of nudity, or taken so that any clothing worn can be easily edited out. If you wish to submit a nude photo, or if it of an intimate body part such as the breast, butt, etc., you will be reassured that NO ONE but myself will ever see the original image, and that your identity will be not be connected to the image unless I have your written consent for me to do so. The point of this project is, again, to expound upon the human experience of insecurity, while keeping the identity of those featured secret and safe.
Other considerations to take into account if you wish to contribute a photo are that the image should be sized between 1M and 3M (easily chosen on most digital cameras’ options menus), should be colored photos, and untouched by any image editing programs (I will make any necessary changes.) If you are submitting an image of genitalia, please use your head and keep it clean and respectful. I will not accept images that are blatantly sexually explicit, or seemingly meant to be erotic in any way, and don’t want them clogging up my inbox. If I receive an image like that, I will not accept any other image you may send me, and will throw out any that were submitted prior to the lewd image. Please be sure to include your name and how you would like to be contacted should I use one of your images, and whether or not you would want your name connected to any drawings of you.
To view examples of the types of images that I am looking for, and to see the examples of work that I’ve done in connection with this project so far, please visit:
http://s317.photobucket.com/albums/mm362/bite_the_rose/Insecurity%20Project/
Photos, along with any further comments or questions, can be submitted via email to:
cbonnell61@msn.com
Thank you,
Cheyenne Bonnell
My artwork has always served as a way of opening up a line of communication with people around me when I find it difficult to do so otherwise. Just within this past year I did a series of self-portraits that started what would become important conversations about my struggle with an eating disorder. I credit these drawings and how they forced me to confront and confess to my disorder publicly for helping me gather the courage to take the steps I needed to begin recovery, as well as for discovering how not alone I was during a time that had me feeling isolated from the world. That feeling of not being alone had a very profound impact upon me, and I began to see the importance of communicating held back emotions and insecurities. Knowing that there were others out there who had gone through similar or worse situations as me, and had ended up happy and healthy, gave me hope for achieving the same for myself one day.
It is that sense of hope from the shared experience that I wish to continue to offer up with my work. The portraits I have done of myself broke down barriers between myself and others so that I could learn to open up and express myself, and also learn that the insecurities that I feel about my own body are shared - to some extent - with everyone else. Everyone has a part of the body that they will never be satisfied with, a little bit flub that won’t go away, a scar that’s too noticeable, or a part of their body that just didn’t develop “normally,” and it’s those parts of our bodies that we become fixated on. Our ‘problem areas’ become so obvious to us that it may be hard to conceive that no one else notices them but us. The failure to recognize that there is a difference between our personal perceptions of self, and how others really see us, can lead to feelings of insecurity, both minor and extreme. If people knew how inconspicuous their ‘problem areas’ were, or how the feeling of insecurity wasn’t only limited to them, they may be able to come to terms with those feelings and begin to heal.
For this, I am looking to expand my project of portraits beyond the realm of myself. I feel as if that choice would only limit my work to being able to be connected to by people with eating disorders and/or other body image issues. I wish to make the connection-power of the pieces transcend beyond just a specific condition and touch on aspects that all people can relate to; that is, for the pieces to represent a more purely human experience. To do this, however, I need include others from all different backgrounds with all different problems. For this, I’m asking for people to participate in this portrait series and contribute their own photos for this project. (Contributors must be of age 18 or over to avoid any possible legal ramifications of using underage models.)
The photo may be of any segment of the body or body part that may make you feel insecure, preferably taken from a first-person point of view (or “how you see it”) or third-person point of view if it can’t be captured properly. HOWEVER, please try to exclude parts of the body that would make you identifiable to the viewer, such as full-face shots, or any identifying tattoo(s) or piercing(s) that would be hard to “edit out” while drawing them. This is first and foremost to protect the identity of the person in the portrait, as well as to add to the human experience part of the project. Also, the image should be taken to give the illusion of nudity, or taken so that any clothing worn can be easily edited out. If you wish to submit a nude photo, or if it of an intimate body part such as the breast, butt, etc., you will be reassured that NO ONE but myself will ever see the original image, and that your identity will be not be connected to the image unless I have your written consent for me to do so. The point of this project is, again, to expound upon the human experience of insecurity, while keeping the identity of those featured secret and safe.
Other considerations to take into account if you wish to contribute a photo are that the image should be sized between 1M and 3M (easily chosen on most digital cameras’ options menus), should be colored photos, and untouched by any image editing programs (I will make any necessary changes.) If you are submitting an image of genitalia, please use your head and keep it clean and respectful. I will not accept images that are blatantly sexually explicit, or seemingly meant to be erotic in any way, and don’t want them clogging up my inbox. If I receive an image like that, I will not accept any other image you may send me, and will throw out any that were submitted prior to the lewd image. Please be sure to include your name and how you would like to be contacted should I use one of your images, and whether or not you would want your name connected to any drawings of you.
To view examples of the types of images that I am looking for, and to see the examples of work that I’ve done in connection with this project so far, please visit:
http://s317.photobucket.com/albums/mm362/bite_the_rose/Insecurity%20Project/
Photos, along with any further comments or questions, can be submitted via email to:
cbonnell61@msn.com
Thank you,
Cheyenne Bonnell