Gillian Wearing is a British artist and photographer who was part of the Young British Artist movement. She produced groundbreaking work at a similar time to artists such as Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst and won the turner prize in 1997. I was draw to Wearing’s work because her use of masks and the concept of masquerade ties in with the work that I have produced in this project. The above photograph is entitled “Self-portrait at 17 years old” Wearing is wearing a wax mask and wig to try an recreate a photograph taken of herself taken 23 years before (as this portrait was made in 2003, whereas the photo is was based on was taken in 1980 when wearing was 17) When discussing this portrait Wearing stated that she remembers being  “very self-conscious” when the original image was produced ” but also very aware of my image.” Wearing goes onto say that she remembers posing for the photo, dropped her shoulders to make her neck appear longer, opening her eyes to make them appear bigger. When creating my self portraits I was also self conscious, I was very aware of how I was posed and the facial expression I was making. As stated in my previous posts, I find some shoots easier to pose for than others because what I do in front of the camera is a performance and sometimes I find it challenging to get into character. In my course work project I struggled to get into my 1960’s supermodel character and after looking at the photos I decided to do a re-shoot because I wasn’t accurately conveying the character.

Above are two images from one of Wearing’s projects where she cast the face of supermodel Lily Cole and made several wax masks of her face. She then produced studio portraits of Cole wearing the mask of her own face as well as posing as photographing herself wearing the same masks. When looking at the two images above it is incredible how different Cole and Wearing look despite having the same “face”, it really shows how the eyes, hair and costume can completely change the appearance of a subject. In the portrait above on the right, Cole’s already doll like appearance is accentuated by the lace blouse and perfectly curled hair. The mask, although of her own face, gives a porcelain doll effect and due to the cut out eye holes her eyes appear sunken into the head, not much unlike a real doll with glass eyes. Wearing appears rather child-like with Cole’s face, as Lily Cole is an impressive 5″10, her face looks too large on Wearing’s small frame, giving her the appearance of a child. The hairline of the wig that she is wearing also makes the face appear small and round. It is also quite apparent in the portrait that Wearing has a warmer and darker skin tone to Cole and the flesh that is shown through the cut out eye holes draws attention to the eyes. Many of Wearing projects have involved masks and all of them feature similar eye holes that allow some of Wearing’s identity to show through.

Another one of Gillian Wearing’s projects that I found particularly interesting was her photograph series entitled “Signs that Say What You Want Them To Say and Not Signs that Say What Someone Else Wants You To Say” Which was produced in the years 1992-1993. This series of portraits depicts people Wearing encountered in South London, she would stop various people and request that they write in black pen on a large white piece of paper, what they wanted to say and not what other people wanted them to say. Some of the portraits produced in this project where incredibly powerful, my favorite portrait is the one in the top left hand corner of the grid above. I love the honest and raw nature of the statement and how this man that Wearing encountered was secure enough in his masculinity to admit that he was sensitive and insecure. I think these sign were probably very liberating and very empowering and i think that everyone can probably relate to at least one sign within this photographic series.

I want to take inspiration from Wearing’s work by including text in my images. I so however, want to carefully consider the words I select and think about how they relate to the image, myself and the wider world of western society and feminism. The words of Wearing’s ” Signs that Say What You Want Them To Say and Not Signs that Say What Someone Else Wants You To Say” are powerful and I want to make also want to make a statement with my images.