Post 1 Deanna Glogowski

     My selfie was inspired by the artistic works of both Cindy Sherman and Mickalene Thomas. Both are artists how found inventive and revolutionary ways to show who they are in their work. Though they did so in opposite ways, they each still found a place in my selfie in one way or another. Most of the inspiration comes from Mickalene Thomas, though, as she is a master of using bright colors and areas and using models close to her to show her true self. She may mot be in the art she makes physically, but her every essence pours through anyway with the scene she makes, the colors she uses, and the models she enlists. In an article about Mickalene Thomas title, "Mickalene Thomas: I Can't See You Without Me," it states, "With a special focus on the artist’s opulent, grandly scaled paintings, I Can’t See You Without Me looks at four of the most significant muses in Thomas’s work spanning 2001–2018: her late mother, Sandra; her former girlfriend Maya; her current partner, Racquel; and the artist herself." Though, I don't have any people significant to me in the picture other than myself, I filled it with many significant things to me. My own personal gaming console, my own personal book, the Bible that I own. Even the red ribbon that chains me to the dollhouse belongs to me. Mickalene Thomas is masterful at using other people to show who she is in her art. I may not have used that part of her process, but I did take inspiration from the bright colors and the deep scene making. It also certainly shows who I am.
     Alternatively, I followed Cindy Sherman's work by using myself as the model. Cindy Sherman is always the model in her art. The only time she isn't is when there are objects like mannequins to take her place. I was inspired by that and made myself the only subject of my selfie. Though, I did not follow Cindy Sherman's trend of remaking her face in her pictures. I, unfortunately, do not have that talent. In fact, it was said in an article title, "The Cindy Sherman Effect," that Cindy Sherman had a, "...dazzling skill as a perpetual shapeshifter..." I could not do that, but I still took the inspiration to tell a complex story with my selfie like Cindy Sherman does and I took the inspiration to be the only model. Thus, Cindy Sherman also inspired my selfie.
     I used Mickalene Thomas and Cindy Sherman to help me make my selfie a perfect representation of me. My selfie is meant to show my constant struggle to grow up and retain things of my past at the same time. I am horrible at growing. I love my little baby things and I feel bad when I suddenly stop liking things that I used to love. One of my most frequent complaints from my mom is to grow up. That is why I am struggling to put on the vest in the picture and why I am chained to the dollhouse with a red ribbon. Little girls use red ribbons in their hair, so it chains me to the dollhouse I played with when I was a little girl to show how I can't let go of the past. The vest I struggle, which was worn by my grandmother and, later, my mother, is meant to show my struggle to become an adult and accept that I am an adult now. The three things in front of me are meant to signify my constants. The things that will always be a part of me, no matter how old I get. That is my love of video games, my love of reading, and my love of God. For as long as I live, those things will remain constant in me, so they are placed in front of me, unchanged by the struggle happening behind them. That is who I am and I can accurately say that I achieved this by looking at the inspiration I got from Cindy Sherman's and Mickalene Thomas's work and art process.

Links to Mickalene Thomas:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/mickalene-thomas-ushering-new-wave-contemporary-art-180967496/

Links to Cindy Sherman:
https://www.theartstory.org/artist-sherman-cindy.htm