Theatre of U

Theatre of U is a triptych portrait series that considers, at a number of levels, the ways we construct our personal identity using visual representations. In the centre panel identity becomes manifested by the ways we use our hands to leave marks with significance, from hand stencils on the walls of caves to our own signatures. The left panels represent a range of human archetypes, which are contrasted on the right with the physicality of our being. These triptychs are intended to be exhibited behind frosted acetates, which obscure the images, making it necessary to use our hand to press the acetate against the image in order to see a small portion of the image. All this problematizes ideas of identity construction through visual representation by necessitating our engagement with these portraits, incorporating our hands and the sensation of touch in order to see.