FAUX SKINS
I CAN BE YOU AND YOU CAN BE ME
AZIZA ABDIEVA | PELIN OZESEN
Modern life has forced us into emptying our souls to open up space for fake personas. Faux Skins - I can be You and You can be Me dedicates itself into resurfacing the souls of ten youth by replicating their psyche-masks with art. The following masks have invaded their owners' personalities, forming new skins for them.
With this collaboration we wanted talk about masks that we wear to perform in day-to-day life. When I say masks, I mean social masks we wear to hide our true selves and pretend to be someone else. I decided to make Faux Skins because I realized that I was wearing masks throughout my life. Living with expectations from my parents, my friends, and my partner at the time made me feel like I was wearing masks to match the images people expected from me. I did not know who I really was.
We changed human features and made non-human forms and shapes. By doing that we were asking if we are not ourselves when wearing masks, then who are we really?
Exhibition Poster
Faux Skins. Exhibited at FADA gallery, Ankara, Turkey, 2018
This exhibition inspired two American playwrights Dr. Mark Charney and Cory Norman to make a play based on Faux Skins Personalities, which was then showcased in Marfa Texas and Ankara Turkey in 2019
Mask fitting before the play
Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, 2019
Cody Norman, Aziza Abdieva and Dr. Mark Charney
Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, 2019
EMPTY ROADS WITH CARS
Slactivists, Narcissists, and the Enigma of the Omnipresent Triangle