tomorrow, 2023

oil on canvas

In this painting, I wanted to emphasize the feeling of choice or decision-making, where there are two versions of me debating which one gets to present itself. Should I put on a mask to conceal my true feelings and present myself in a certain way, or should I be myself and accept that I can’t control the image that is formed of me? When speaking about “wearing a mask,” I also drew inspiration from the sociologist Erving Goffman’s statement that people wear masks, where we all perform certain roles in which we control and stage our appearance so that we constantly try to present ourselves in a better light. This raises the question of whether we even have a true self or if we continuously perform and pretend. In the painting, I wanted to visually depict that moment that occurs in my mind when I start choosing which mask to wear. Hence, the confusion between the two figures, trying to figure out which version of me will prevail and which version of Me will represent me in the end.