Akina S.

Curatorial Rationale

​

My body of work encapsulates the theme of youth culture. The pieces represent the thoughts, feelings, and issues many young people experience today. Viewing pieces like Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette by Renoir, led me to wonder about how wealth disparity influences youth culture which drove my creation Mapait ng Katotohanan (Bitter Reality). While You're Still Young shows how adults may invalidate our feelings. Digital Effects portrays the different realities of social media, which make up a big part of youth culture. Gaugin’s We Shall Not Go To Market Today inspired it. His work shows how the market is not only a place to sell goods but for women to sell themselves as well. While Still 3 Children, a piece inspired by Three Women by Boccioni, and Reminiscing Our Childhood focus on the emotions during our transition to adulthood. 

​

I was mainly inspired by my own experiences as a teenager, as well as by my peers and their teenage struggles or experiences such as in the piece Burn-out with their experience of academic exhaustion ultimately inspired by Women in Three Stages by Munch, and the sense of loss embedded within the piece.

​

The exhibition mainly focuses on the “in-between” interactions with children and adults and our departure from childhood to more adulthood experiences. We gain more understanding about the world, regarding love, social platforms, and global issues. Our understanding begins to widen, as well as our emotions of wanting to stay as a child to avoid these complex thoughts. 

​

The majority of my pieces is digitally manipulated or constructed like a collage, reflecting my love for film and for making low relief collages. I centered my pieces on the materials I knew best. One of my technically notable pieces is You’re Still Young. My technique in watercolor for the shading on the wooden doors was effective. The addition of a border on my figures, allowed the figures to float. It shows the uncertainties in our emotions or how we are “ungrounded” when we are invalidated. Another highlight in the collection is Teenager Romance. My technical quality showed my skill in handling lens-based media. I was able to portray how mental illnesses are romanticized by our youth through the “over-dreamy” look.

​

All my collages and digital pieces are medium in size, allowing me to work more intimately with the studios. In Mapait ng Katotohanan (Bitter Reality), the details focus on how the food identifies social class. The similar sizes show how every piece is equally important to each other. Teenager Romance is the biggest piece, as it would be displayed with a projector. As they stand near the projection, people will feel like they are sending the comments into the live stream, emphasizing our relationship with social media. 

​

I am first presenting social movements such as the LGBTQ support circles, activism in feminism, and the use of social media, which are all motivated by the beliefs of youth culture. Next, the audience will see issues such as the youth's ignorance towards mental illnesses, the invalidation of feelings and social disparity. At the end, relatable emotions of the majority of the youths are presented. The emotions of transitioning into adulthood, or burnout — mentally and physically. The experience aims to draw more emotions and reflections from the viewer. The physical dimensions incorporated in the collages, reel the viewer to reflect on how the relief may affect the meanings of the piece. Most of the works use warmer tones, inviting the audience to find rest as they view my exhibition. Being a teenager whose mind is constantly running, it is affirming to see my thoughts displayed as images.