Image expression and external influences: Grayson Perry's Who am I?

       •Research the topic through Grayson Perry’s – Who are you? Episode 1, 2 or 3  

•          Relate your findings to your own work 

       •Draw a conclusion to your theory 

After watching episode one of Grayson Perry’s TV series who are you? I learnt a lot about image, expression and external influences. In this episode he looked at four people, from very different backgrounds and lifestyles and got to know them by meeting them and seeing their lives and talking to them about themselves. He did a great job of portraying these peoples image through the artwork he created. This episode how people express themselves in different ways and how external influences can change people and how people react to these influences, it was really interesting to see these people and their opinions on themselves and how they think other people see them. There was a story about a young white woman that used to go out and drink all of the time and she didn't lead the best life, but she converted to Islam and changed her life around. She felt as though the religion of Islam had turned her life around for the better but her brother was ashamed of her for doing it because he felt as though she could have became a Christian and gained the same benefits from it. Her views tough were very different. Grayson Perry created an Islamic headdress showing this woman’s story and her previous battles in life going right through to the triumph of her converting to Islam and having a bright happy future. I think that this represented her very well and within the short amount of time that he knew this woman was able to tell her story through his art. 

'The Ashford Hijab' by Grayson Perry. Photo taken from 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-reviews/11179439/Grayson-Perry-Who-Are-You-National-Portrait-Gallery-review-highly-engaging.html

The lady who inspired this artwork. Photo taken from:
http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/features/grayson-perry-who-are-you/5078893.article

Another story also caught my attention about a woman that was changing from a woman to a man and her family was finding this hard to except. She had felt like a man in her mind for most of her life and felt that this was the only way to go forward and to be happy within her life but her mother was finding this hard to come to terms with. This woman wanted to be a man and to be able to accept that and be able to celebrate and move on with it but felt although she was being forced into repressing her feelings to please her family members. After leaving school she started to take hormones to begin the transformation to a man and she started to feel happier in life. The mother began to come to terms with it a little bit but she was finding it hard to adapt and begin calling her a he. Perry decided to cast a bronze sculpture of this person as peter pan blowing a trumpet as he felt although this embodied how this woman will have felt after she triumphed and began the transformation to a man. This piece showed a celebration of the woman breaking out of her old self into this new life as a man. I think that this worked very well and fit the purpose nicely. 

Grayson Perry, I am a Man, 2014. Photo taken from: http://www.artfund.org/what-to-see/exhibitions/2014/10/25/who-are-you-exhibition

The man who inspired this piece. Image taken from:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grayson-perry-who-are-you

I think that within my own artistic practice I can relate to the way that people adapt and change to external influences and how they want to be seen because I think that things definitely have influence on me and how I create art, weather it be conscious or not. I could create a piece of art strongly relating to a certain influence and the next month I could have a whole set of different influences and have adapted my artwork to suit them and what I want to express. I express myself through art and as a human I am constantly changing and adapting to the world and what is changing around me, I think that everyone is really. Otherwise we'd all be the same all the time and art would get very unsatisfying, you have to keep changing to keep interested and to keep up with the fast moving world.

In my opinion people are very complex and often have a lot of different sides to them, people are constantly changing this is why it's really hard to pin down a person to a specific thing. You could think you know them but they could see themselves very differently, you never truly know what someone is thinking and in this way it’s hard to predict who they truly are. This also applies to external influences and how they can change a person, an external influence could cause someone to change in some way and they could think its for the better where as other people could be looking at you and thinking that you have changed for the worse. This often has great effect on people as creatives as they are ever evolving as people and creative voices, it is impossible to stay in one place if you want to succeed because if you were so happy that you feel as though you didn't have to evolve and improve and be inspired as an artist then I don't think you would be fully satisfied and would just stop creating because what’s the point if you've reached your full potential. To me one of the most important things about art and people in general is constant self improvement and allowing yourself to be inspired by external influences to be allowed to strive towards your best self.