Miriam El Abbassi | Arts Editor
Featured Image: “Who am I, and how can I grasp this ever-evolving self?” This question is, of course, unanswerable, but we continue this cycle indefinitely, because we are human, and we are curious. | Miriam El Abbassi
The State of Not Knowing is a collection of paintings and print work by artists Deanna Gisborne and Ernesto Hidalgo respectively. The result of their collaboration seeks to explore the complexities and nuances of their own identities by trying to reconcile that through various imagery.
According to their public statement on their work: “All of this probing of the self-conscious mind is expressed in bodies, trying from all angles to reach that same conclusion and achieve resolution: Who am I, and how can I grasp this ever-evolving self? This question is, of course, unanswerable, but we continue this cycle indefinitely, because we are human, and we are curious.”
This exploration is something the viewers can get a sense of, especially when examining each work individually.
Gisborne’s paintings depict different people, each interacting with their surroundings in their own unique way. One of the first paintings hanging by the entrance is a naked masculine-presenting body lying on a bed with white flowers strewn across. The figure stares down at itself in what looks to be slight discontent. This may allude to the inner battle that both artists touch on in their statement about trying to reconcile the contradicting aspects of their identity in order to come to a more whole and complete understanding of who they are. This is perhaps one of the more striking images in the gallery.
Another painting that seems to explicitly speak to their overall message would be the one in which a disembodied head is completely enveloped by a snake. This kind of imagery seems to evoke the feelings of being trapped, or constrained, in one way or another, which may be speaking to the experience one may have of feeling trapped within their own identity.
The prints by Hidalgo, however, are much more ambiguous. The image of hands is recurring throughout several pieces, but it is unclear as to what this could possibly mean. Some prints are also deliberately hazy, which poses the question of whether or not ambiguity was the goal with Hidalgo’s work. If that were to be the case, a possible motive for doing so could be to allow the audience more freedom to derive their own meaning for what they see in front of them.
Located in the Special Project Gallery at the Joan and Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts, The State of Not Knowing will be open to the public until Thursday, October 31.
