Critique Feb.14th 2013 Mexican Masks

      Don. Octavio Paz writes that, "unlike other people, we the Mexicans believe that opening oneself up is a weakness or a betrayal... he can do many things but never backdown and can never allow the outside world penetrate his privacy."All of this in reference to the Mexican Mask, which is also the title of chapter 2 in, "The Labyrinth of Solitude." So when I hear the word, "Mascara," I think not of a physical mask but of a persona that one hides behind in order to maintain privacy. We all have a persona that is public, what we allow others to see, but their is always the persona inside that we keep to ourselves. A sacred identity that we rarely if ever allow others to see of know. We hide this identity for reasons known only to ourselves. We may hide behind this mascara to maintain privacy or even to hide unhappiness with who we truly are. I feel that everyone hides behind a mascara because if we freely open up who we are at risk of being judged, ridiculed or as Don Octavio Paz writes,"opening our defenses may lessening our manliness." We all decide to be who we want to be and our mascara or persona allows us to be exactly who we want others to see and who we truly want to be. We lie to assimilate to absorb and integrate to ideas, people or culture. These lies we tell eventually become truth in a sense because we ourselves begin to believe them and we become who we present ourselves to be.
      On a warm afternoon while walking home from my on campus internship I bumped into an old grey haired bearded homeless gent on the street talking to a group of students. I stopped and listened and heard him speak of the man he once was. Having a job a home and a family, but now alone, living on the streets and living a life that is so different to what his life once was. He spoke as if he was content with his current situation and where his life now was. I walked away thinking, "Is this man hiding behind a mascara? Is the persona he pretends to be really who he wants to be? Does he at all miss his former life? Is he really happy with who he is now and where life has taken him or could he be lying, simply to integrate to the people and culture around him? Is he masking unhappiness or loss?" All these questions have answers that I will never know because what he presents is his and our reality, his persona, his mascara. His words, his lies become his reality, what he wants us to see and what we accept him to be.
        I feel that I connected my image to the word "Mascara" and felt it to tie directly to the ideas of chapter 2 in our reading. I received great feedback from my fellow peers but was a bit disappointed to know that Prof. Tony did not quite connect the image to the idea of Mascara. I understand that we all have our points of view and respect everyones opinions. I take what I hear as constructive and apply the feedback to better my work. Sometimes its hard to break from a certain mindset and like Tony stated, maybe I am well trained and used to specific structure or style. I guess it doesn't hurt to think more outside the box and crate works that are unique, different and challenging. Thank you for everyones feedback as it molds me to become a better artist. Attached is the image for you all to re-enjoy! Till next time!