I Am You explores human growth, transformation, and identity, questioning the fleetingness of our emotions and how much of who we are is shaped by upbringing, environment, social trends, and personal choices. It considers how time, culture, family, diverse life paths, environments, and relationships influence our personality character expressions and our sense of self. By examining whether we are conditioned avatars or authentic individuals, the work delves into what truly defines us as human, and who we could have become under different life circumstance or if we made a “slightly” different choice at one point in time or another. The work times to remind us to look for the essence of our true selves beyond societal roles and obligations. Ultimately, it aims to uncover the genuine, human “you” amidst the many personas we assume in our everyday lives. 

New York has always been a rather attention seeking, performative place, and so is America. The USA is a country committed to the praxis of pretending and of being seen, validated and acknowledged.  It’s a very performative and very attention deprived, individualistic culture. Over the past decade, and by the influence of social media, You Tube Influencers, and the media and fashion industrial complexes there has been a pronounced shift towards toxic identity-focused expression, where seeking attention and projecting carefully crafted personas often takes precedence over meaningful connection.

This shift is especially prominent in New York City, where self-branding and performative identity can lead to a culture of superficiality, ruthlessness, and social isolation. On the surface, some of these identity performances can be creative and entertaining, but their darker side can foster egotism and a disconnect from the needs of others.Surrounded by this trend, the artist began to to examine the complex relationship between identity and social/ cultural context as early as 2019/20. With I Am You, the artist is reflecting on how identities are shaped by upbringing, environment, cultural pressures and personal choices, and how these crafted selves often mask deeper aspects of who we are, and what lies beneath these social masks.

Around 2016 / 17 the artist began finding grounding in meditation, intuition, and a deeper connection to the natural self, seeking a refuge from the relentless identity-focused atmosphere of the city. Deepening spirituality and meditative practice introduced the artist  to the idea of the “true self”, a grounded, mindful self that exists beyond our conditioned personas. Reflecting on this notion, the artist  began examining the fleetingness of our emotional states, how we design and create personal avatars, investigating the “public,” “private,” and “secret” selves, as described in psychological theory. This ultimately inspired the project I am You. The question arises:  How would I or others have turned out if we made slightly different choices, or if circumstances had shifted in some small way? To what extent are our personalities conditioned rather than natural or authentic? How often do we remain unaware of the self beyond these constructs, that natural, grounded beingness?