This was a part of my Gender and Social Change project for VISA230 in which I was given a chance to explore a topic very dear to me. Through this image I tried to portray the spectrum of ways one can represent themselves in order to feel comfortable. The meaning of the piece is rooted in the symbolism. The mirror is an obvious sign of self-reflection. A broken mirror is usually taken as a sign of trouble, discomfort and damage, however it is just something that is just one step closer on its way from a manmade object to its natural state (glass/sand) , something beautiful that returns a variation of unique images all slightly different from each other.
When I presented this work for the first time, many were confused as to what direction should the work be read in, left-to-right ('feminine' to 'androgynous'/'masculine'), or right-to-left ('androgynous'/'masculine' to 'feminine'). The truth is (although this piece was inspired by my girlfriend who finally took a step towards feeling more herself, free and comfortable, by cutting off her hair) - there is no left-to-right or right-to-left. All of the concepts, even the concept of time, are man-made, artificial. So why circumscribe ourselves in the ways we don't feel comfortable only to meet expectations and match stereotypes? I have so many guy friends and girl friends who constantly reject elements they love only because they don't match what the public would expect they gender to wear/watch/listen to, etc.