Heads

The ʻHeadsʼ series probes ideas of self, identity and chance. It is an accident of birth that determines where and (to a large part) how one is situated and what posibilities are available. How different oneʼs life would be if he were born to different parents or in a different environment, a different race or ethnicity, a different gender or sexuality. His worldview, sense of self and choice of actions would be vastly altered. Dreams and aspirations are largely dependent on where and when and to whom one is born. Things that are assumed in some cultures are impossible in others. The ʻHeadsʼ are an attempt to understand for a moment the lives of others, to walk a mile in their shoes, to see the world through their eyes.

The heads all start exactly the same, as a hydrocal (a relatively hard plaster) casting from a mold of my own head. They are then altered, using both additive and subtractive methods, to become other characters, personalities or types. Some of them depict alteregos or people I wanted to be at one time or another. Sometimes I want to disguise myself, and so the face is hidden behind a mask. They begin to hint at the infinite possibilities of how self is defined, what a person is or can be and how identities are established and reinforced.