Therefore I Am
How Social Identity Intersects and Interacts
How does our sense of ourselves as unique individuals square with the realization that, always and everywhere, we share aspects of our identity with many others?
—Richard Jenkins, Social Identity
This project attempts to depict the complexity of social identity. We each stand at the intersection of many groups, such as race, gender, age, nationality, religion, or politics. But while we may share those labels with others, every individual’s experience is different. These labels are like stars in a constellation that defines the general shape of who we are, but leaves the rest for us to navigate. It may shift and change over time, bringing in new labels or leaving others behind. Sometimes it feels like because we identify with one label, therefore we must also be another. But holding on to any one label too closely can skew our perception of ourselves and others, leaving us close-minded and hostile.
I designed and animated an abstract motion piece that reflects these ideas, along with a series of posters. I also compiled a book documenting my process and thoughts about this topic.
Posters
Process
Emotional Vulnerability in Design
This process turned out to be incredibly personal and vulnerable. I decided to delve into this topic in mid-2020, influence by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the racial protests and overall political tension of the year. Specifically, I began to feel at odds between my personal political values and my religious identity. I was frustrated by the political beliefs of many others belonging to my church, but my faith is a central part of my own identity, and I found it hard to reconcile those two sides.
Throughout the autumn of 2020, I researched everything I could about social identity, especially political and religious identities. At first, I never anticipated the level of vulnerability this project would require. However, I soon realized that it’s basically impossible to write and create about identity without heavily relying on personal experience. While nothing in the final project explicitly references any specific identity, the concepts I focused on reflect my own understanding of this incredibly complex topic. Really, the most difficult part of this process had nothing to do with the design, but rather just trying to wrap my head around social identity.
