Throughout my conversation with Amy regarding the different types of fears she has in life, it became apparent to me that she holds a reoccurring theme of anxiety within social situations and a fear of social interaction. When I asked her about these deep fears of socializing, she told me about the many times she’s found herself at a loss for words within situations where she feels pressured to be a certain way and say certain things. Despite feeling comfortable and confident within her own skin, the potential awkwardness while socializing holds Amy back from loosely verbalizing her thoughts. Within this fear of social interaction Amy also described a smaller, though related, fear of greeting people.
To accurately display Amy’s fears I chose to hand make a jacket made out of paper towel. I chose an over sized cropped style of jacket as my intentions were for her to feel both comfortable and cozy, as well as remaining confident within her appearance. Instead of telling a specific story relating to Amy’s fear, I chose to create the jacket in way that acted as a reminder to be comfortable, confident and herself while greeting people and partaking in social situations.
Amy gets the majority of her inspiration from her favourite artist Egon Schiele, so I decided to incorporate elements from her favourite pieces onto the jacket to further capture her personality and identity. She told me she loves his use of bodies and faces, and colours such as taupe and grey, elements of his work that she finds extremely visually pleasing and calming. Taking this into consideration, I decided to take a piece of a hand from one of Schieles pieces and use it to create my own design to paint onto the back of the jacket.
Not only do these hands represent Amy’s personal admirations and aesthetic, but they also are the most common symbol relating to the act of greeting someone; a handshake. By collaging these hands together on the back of the jacket in a strong composition I am able to convey Amy’s fear while also reminding her to push through the awkwardness.
Lastly, I chose to use gold safety pins to attach the different sections of the paper towel jacket, not only for their practical use, but because I feel they added style and edge to the jacket in an elegant manor. Amy says she favours golds, which can be proven through her array of gold piercings and jewellery, so I thought the use of gold safety pins was a unique homage to her appearance. I placed the safety pins in increments of threes as a way of representing the waves of anxiety that come within everyday life to people who fear social interaction like Amy does.
Through my use of imagery, texture, shape, line, colour and composition, I was able to create a piece that acts as a reminder to Amy to push past her fear of social interaction and greeting people, and to remain comfortable and confident with her true self.
