Appearance Discrimination

Luis Candelaria

Acts of Resistance

“Acts of Resistance Paintings”

For my project, I have developed a series of 5 paintings that dealt with the struggles and triumphs of appearance discrimination. The reason I chose that topic is because I was not only heavenly involved with ridicule for my own looks, but I want to serve as an influence to those suffering the same dilemma. I wanted to captivate my personal experiences and potential advice to people knowing that they are not alone and that everyone should be respected appropriately. The message I wish to convey in my works is that our appearance may be a judgmental factor by others but we can develop outlets that can openly express our personal beliefs, feelings and skills to show that we aren't held back based on looks. Instead of taking ridicule and accusations by heart, we can see them as a pushing edge to acknowledge ourselves that we have more potential, more knowledge and more determination to reach our goals. As a result, we turn off our ears and eyes to not give them access and instead channel our inner desires and dreams into a new foundation. For personal reasons, I choose to not share my work openly to my social media and to the public. However, I shared them privately with some of my personal friends who were also struggling with self-doubt and disencouragement. They were lifted with the messages I tried to convey and were influenced to look on the bright side. These paintings are also beneficial for my portfolio because it shows that I can create visual expressions based on both personal experiences and hardships in our society. After all, ”We're the disloyal opposition that bangs people over the head and reminds them that the art world isn't this great liberal bastion of aesthetic quality, that it's subject to the same forces as everyone else and every other institution in society," (Guerella Girls, pg. 10). As such, not everyone can interpret the hardships we go through in our art. “For many involved in the arts, an artwork must remain opaque enough to invite a proper amount of speculation and guesswork. Confusion is appalled over the crass simplicity of the oblivious”. (Seeing Power). This is why my goal is to make sure my art is as clear and message conveying as it can be. I will be explaining each individual painting as well as their influences.

             In my first painting, “Mirror Me-Roar”, I display a caricature of myself stripped laying in a bed next to a mirror of a fictionalized, ripped version of myself in the same position. Another notable difference between the both of us is that not only is the reflection’s leg width the same, unlike my lymphedema leg, but there is also the same color. The painting was a reflection on many of the experiences I had of being observed by the opposite sex. There were many occasions throughout my college life that I gained compliments by my face, but were immediately discouraged or disillusioned based on both my weight and my leg. Even faculty members at the school made remarks about my looks. They would look at my face and give me compliments, but the moment they looked down below, it’s an immediate difference of opinion. I had a huge sense of doubt as a result. I would often look into the mirror and wonder why I would get immediately judged because of my weight. I was also somewhat influenced by Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror song because I would also ask myself; should I just ignore them or should I do something about it to appease them? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps) I’m still struggling with trying to piece the puzzle on that one.

          In my second painting, entitled “Don’t Judge a Look by It’s Undercover”, I depict my swollen leg painting the Mona Lisa on canvas. My work experience and artist John Callahan were an influence for that piece. As stated before, another factoring struggle I had was finding employment. Although my resume and records were impeachable, rather than judging me by my skill-set, potential bosses notice my weight and leg and immediately decide that other candidates would work the job. I felt discouraged as a result because neither my weight or my leg ever held me back on my endeavors or ability to perform tasks. That’s one of the benefit factors of the internet as well. I could use my artistic ability to create works and share them with the rest of the world and people would look at them by the work itself rather than the painter behind it. This is what led me to gain several freelance jobs as a result. John was also on the same route as well. Despite his incapacitation due to being paralyzed, his cartooning ability helped him sustain work and even critical acclaims to more opportunities (https://www.wweek.com/culture/2018/07/18/cartoonist-john-callahan-was-offensive-hilarious-and-one-of-portlands-own-now-gus-van-sant-and-joaquin-phoenix-are-giving-him-his-long-delayed-close-up/).

             In my third painting, “Eyeball Alley”, symbolism was heavenly used for this one. On the painting, you’ll see a kid wearing headphones walking past a pack of dogs. These dogs are all based on obstacles of authority and opposition. We have a doberman who is based on a police officer, which symbolizes hate crimes and domestic police brutality, and two dogs based on busybodies or discriminating citizens who made rude judgement. As you can see, the headphones on the kid helps share that he is not paying the dogs in mind and is continuing on the path. Shane Koyczan’s poem “To This Day” as well as Kevin Smith helped influence this work. Rather than succumb to ridicule, Shane acknowledged that these criticisms would never have an impact on his life. It’s best to ignore and walk past them so you could focus more on your goals and livelihood (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltun92DfnPY). Kevin also shared his experiences to the public, which influenced several protests as a result. He didn’t have to fight back but he didn’t necessarily back down either (https://twitter.com/thatkevinsmith/status/9079110598?lang=en). This shows that he holds self-respect for himself and that he wanted to let people understand that we should all be treated fairly.

            For my fourth painting, Troublesome Trianthalon, it is based heavily on the struggles and upbringing that Wilma Rudolph had throughout her life. Despite dreaming of being a track athlete, Wilma was held back on many different factors (https://timeline.com/wilma-rudolph-broke-barriers-and-expectations-when-she-won-the-olympics-c3e5de2d412). Her financial instability, African-American background, early labor development and the fact that she’s female were all drawbacks. But Wilma was too determined on her goals and as such, was able to win several bronze medals in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and was renowned as the first American athlete and woman to win three gold medals in each event. For the painting, I depicted Wilma climbing on top of the mountain attempting to reach her goal while her past hardships, depicted as boulders, keep trying to get in her way.

           For my final painting, “Listen, Accept and Respect No Evil”, I made a simplistic representation of three monochronic statues that have similar poses to the three wise monkeys. Behind them are small symbols of personifications such as mouths, ears and eyes with several hues and colors all behind a rainbow based color. The statues represent people who have an ignorant and critical sense of direction. They see the world in black and white; refusing to adapt or look the other way. But the colors and symbols are surrounding them in an attempt to open their world and reach out to them. Kathy Bates helped influence this specific piece because her raising awareness on her lymphedema condition caught the attention of many people and influenced them to understand that even though the condition is very serious, she is still human; no more or less. (https://www.survivornet.com/articles/actor-kathy-bates-says-even-holding-up-a-book-is-hard-due-to-lymphedema-after-breast-cancer-surgery/) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWcZqQXBOOM).

               For summarization, my message in my works is that our society may struggle by being judged by our looks, but we should develop an outlet to not only bypass them but also create a new ideal to embrace our inner feelings and skills openly. Judgements don't come naturally, as all of us have an influence from others in one way or another. For example, “Most of us learned patriarchal attitudes in our family of origin, and they were usually taught to us by our mothers.” (Understanding Patriarchy). Much like patriarchy, opinions are often developed by outside influences such as politicians or even close relatives. But just because we gain that specific ideal doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily the right ideal. Rather than succumbing based on discriminatory decisions, we should turn the other cheek and keep moving forward. This is the primary reason why this topic is very important to me. My leg and weight doesn’t make the assumption that I am a weak target. I accept my faults and embrace my craft and I get respect for it as a result. Regardless of how we look, where we come from, our background, we all bleed the same blood and we’re all human; no more, no less. My initial plan is to also share my paintings in many different platforms and support groups with others who are going through the same situation that I’m also in because everyone deserves a helping hand. I do not see my leg as an obstacle, but as a kickstart to keep striving to my goals and live in a healthy and peaceful world.

Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DA9mCt1ZhK-lkI_D1VcptExUK5DXCyEHTdJazSpxau4/edit?usp=sharing

10 Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps

https://www.wweek.com/culture/2018/07/18/cartoonist-john-callahan-was-offensive-hilarious-and-one-of-portlands-own-now-gus-van-sant-and-joaquin-phoenix-are-giving-him-his-long-delayed-close-up/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltun92DfnPY

https://twitter.com/thatkevinsmith/status/9079110598?lang=en

https://timeline.com/wilma-rudolph-broke-barriers-and-expectations-when-she-won-the-olympics-c3e5de2d412

https://www.survivornet.com/articles/actor-kathy-bates-says-even-holding-up-a-book-is-hard-due-to-lymphedema-after-breast-cancer-surgery/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWcZqQXBOOM

https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/actress-kathy-bates-to-testify-about-lymphedema-1481267267829

https://www.biography.com/athlete/wilma-rudolph

https://nj1015.com/fat-man-no-more-njs-kevin-smith-a-weight-watchers-ambassador/