S ELF PORT RA I TS
JAYU
Online | Ontario, Canada
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iAM COLLAGING 2020
TEAM WORK The final assignment of this program was to create collaged self-portraits reflective of future, past and present selves.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Delano Dunn Collage artist from Los Angeles whose works focus on racial identity and perception Thank you for your time guest speaking in our program. Cheyanne Lobo Our mentor who guided us through a series of prompts and discussions which lead to the work in this zine.
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CONTRIBUTORS
4 AJ OWENS HUGHES 5 ALYSSA SYDNEY-CHONG 6 DESIREE MCKENZIE 7 DAKSHA SATHANANTHAN 8 IRIS OKORO 9 LEILAH DHORÉ 10 MARIAM MOHAMED 11 NASIM ASGARI
Everyone who contributed to this STUNNING collection of artwork put so much of themselves into their collages. For that, I am grateful to each and every one of the iAM graduates. We learnt together, grew together, and became a family. I love you all. - Cheyanne Lobo
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12 CAMILA LIMA
AJ iAM COLLAGING 2020
With my collages I wanted to illustrate my personality and things about myself that relate to different points in my life and all focus on chaos and anonymity. The past collage focuses on growing up in an unstable environment, juxtaposed with the Rudy Francisco poem and other elements included to create a sense of softness within the chaos. My present collage is focused more on the outside world. I chose images and colours that come off as dark along with images that symbolize beauty and femininity; something that the outside world and other influences strive for me to be. My future collage is a little bit brighter and highlights how I don’t really know what I am going to do with my future but I am fairly optimistic in knowing that I will end up doing something creative.
PAST
FUTURE
grey - past red- present pink - future
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PRESENT
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A LYS SA SY D N E Y
PAST FUTURE
This here is my “Present” self. Meaning I’m educating myself more so I can “conquer” the world LOL. I want to travel, experience a lot of things, and just take in as much knowledge as I can during my life. I also read a lot so the text represents that. The yellow expression represents my ambition and drive to accomplish my goals and live out my dreams.
This is my future self which represents the person I’d like to be on the inside. The eyes are connected while the mouth is separated showing that I’d like to observe more and talk less. I’d like to leave my angry and sad past behind (red background) and become a person of peace, tranquillity, and kindness.
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I don’t know which I prefer better so I just added both. This represents my past self which was very depressed and unmotivated. The car represents stuff that I could accomplish if I wasn’t so down and out. It takes place underwater to illustrate that “drowning” feeling you feel when you feel hopeless. The blue body represents my thoughts, and the colourful body represents me, who is always accompanied by those bad thoughts. The purple bar represents how I was holding myself back.
PRESENT
D E S I RE E iAM COLLAGING 2020
FUTURE
PAST
PRESENT
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These three collages represent three eras of my life. These include my simple, and youthful past fuelled by fun, music and poetry; my complicated yet beautiful present that is indicative of my growth as a woman learning to coexist with others; and the uncertainty of my future that in some ways, can only be imagined through my fears. All in all, the most consistent component of each collage is poetry, which is the main art form that has followed me through every phase of my life.
FUTURE
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DA K S H A PAST
PRESENT
PAST SELF PORTRAIT:
This collage revolves around the idea that I am not perfect. The broken glass in the collage represents my beautiful imperfections and how I am slowly trying to embrace them. FUTURE: My goals for the future are to accept myself for who I am and really embrace my identity. In my life, when I think of a strong, independent woman I think of my mom. It is why I added her image to my collage. Watching her succeed has made me want to work towards the future e ve ry day.
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This collage includes a picture of myself on my first birthday. It is set around the idea of my culture and my playful childhood. PRESENT SELF PORTRAIT:
I RI S
PAST
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PRESENT
FUTURE
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PAST
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LEILAH
FUTURE
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PRESENT
M A RI AM iAM COLLAGING 2020
PRESENT FUTURE
PAST
Past: I didn’t have a lot of friends when I was small because I lived very far from my classmates and I was a quiet kid so I was lonely a lot. This piece shows how I felt a lot of the time. Present: There are two faces in the picture, one is looking ahead to the future and has flowers growing from her head which symbolizes growth and the other has a scene from Alice in Wonderland and is super colourful and bright to symbolize being free and playful and creative. This piece is supposed to show how right now, I’m super focused on the future and being serious and ambitious and I don’t have a lot of fun anymore so that side is trapped in the mirror.
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Future: I prepare a lot for my future and I almost have my whole life planned out but this piece represents how the future is unpredictable,it’s not going to go how I planned it and I’m going to be surprised by my future.
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N AS I M
C AM I L A iAM COLLAGING 2020
FUTURE
This is about the future. It is about hope, and the blank pages to be written. About mysteries of tomorrow, in a magical way. This is about the freedom and curious uncertainty in my future.
PAST
This is about the past. It is about background, the ocean and a girl full of hopes and dreams. About a confused mind, in the best possible way. This is about the innocence and positivity in my past.
PRESENT
This is about the present. It is about decisions, the growth and possibilities of life. About evolution, with all its beauty. This is about the transformation and opportunities in my present.
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2020 WHERE THE ARTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS INTERSECT
