Which versions truly are you?

Today we are reviewing this artwork by Dominik G., a surrealistic watercolour painting. Let’s get into this monotoned silhouette with multi-layered heads.

Review time

Upon first glance of the artwork, it gave me a sinister vibes with the blank face in the middle, and then the other silhouette of the other heads. For analysis I think it is about perceptions of yourself to others and different versions of how people view and see you. The title “Resemblance” could also suggest that it is about you the avatar making different personalities and masks for different people too. The theme would be identity and perceptions. 

Resemblance, 2022

The blank face that is facing the viewer might mean that either the avatar has lost their true-self by masking up fake personalities or, it is their true-self they never show to people or the version only themselves knows and exist, their own self-perception. Now that we are on the topic with masking, it could be unintentionally relatable for autistic people, which they have a mechanism of studying people’s behaviours so they can fit in the neurotypical community and hence whenever they meet a different person, they entirely change their personality in order to mirror the person they are talking to, so they won’t get outcasted. 

My Personal Opinion

I like that this artwork can be interpreted in many ways, but still ties to the topic identity and perception. The watercolour with the dark blue monotone colour palette really sinks down the mood of it, so subconsciously you would find negative meanings from it. Sometimes in situations we have no choice but to mask up or fake a personality for certain people, so I don’t think it is inherently “bad” to fake because whenever people hear “fake” they assume you are unauthentic and liar but not necessarily always the case. The world does not work on black and white logic, just as “good and bad”, instead it is a gradient pool of shades, constantly changing.