THE MEANING OF LIFE: A SELF PORTRAIT
The Meaning of Life: A Self Portrait.
This installation is the latest iteration of exploring my outsider identity as a queer older woman. In this work I turned to the question where, if not a member of a religious group with prescribed doctrine to guide one through life then where do I find a deep meaning in my life. What I mean by meaning is the way one may embody a set of principles that feels true to and shapes one's life. Existential philosophy provides a roadmap on how to navigate through life while creating one's own meaning. Existentialism accurately captures the zeitgeist. A major tenet is that life is meaningless and we suffer from alienation; in order to counteract this they propose the best way to live is to take responsibility for one’s life by questioning the norms and deciding for oneself what is meaningful. This work emanates from this philosophy as I examined my life from young adult to present.
This installation is the latest iteration of exploring my outsider identity as a queer older woman. In this work I turned to the question where, if not a member of a religious group with prescribed doctrine to guide one through life then where do I find a deep meaning in my life. What I mean by meaning is the way one may embody a set of principles that feels true to and shapes one's life. Existential philosophy provides a roadmap on how to navigate through life while creating one's own meaning. Existentialism accurately captures the zeitgeist. A major tenet is that life is meaningless and we suffer from alienation; in order to counteract this they propose the best way to live is to take responsibility for one’s life by questioning the norms and deciding for oneself what is meaningful. This work emanates from this philosophy as I examined my life from young adult to present.
