Sherman And Mendieta Essay On Identity

400 Words2 Pages

Sherman and Mendieta have both explored femininity and identity as heavy influences in their artistic concepts. They both incorporate their own search of identity, growing up influences and cultural experiences to outline how individuality and identity is concerned today. These two artists laboriously believe that identity is something customised to an individual and isn’t something that is generalised. Identity within yourself is powerful and important and it shouldn’t be conforming. In comparison to each artwork, both Sherman and Mendieta both show themselves in the portrait under someone or something’s power or authority. In Sherman’s “Untitled Film Still #3” she appears to be looking away beyond the confines of the lens, maybe to a figure of authority. The body language also corroborates this idea. In Mendieta’s “Imagen de Yagul” the artist herself seems to be possessed or under the control of an exterior force. The body positioning seems rigid, stiff and almost enchanted. This similarity delves deeper into the depths about identity that there is always a more ominous extension, whether that is society or not, that perceives and influences the individual’s identity. On a different note, both photographs depict traditional settings and environments of stereotypical womanly roles. Whether in the kitchen like a housewife, …show more content…

The fact that Sherman and Mendieta, as artists, are represented in their own artwork raising identity through first-hand experience is captivating. From their heavy use of individual identity in “Unstilled Film Still #3” and “Imagen de Yagul” is undeniably enthralling and allows many different concepts to flow and be interpreted from viewer to viewer. Their self-portraiture artistic techniques and identity concepts outlined in their photography, makes both artists ground-breaking and imaginative geniuses in their own