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Me in You, You in Me: Portraits and Reflections

Rauma, Finland, 2006

This project involved children, adolescents and adults in Rauma to reflect and express their identities in art forms and to create a collective portrait by installing the art pieces in a public space.

Mirrors were given to the people involved to look at themselves externally and internally.

Various portraits were created expressing their multi-dimensional identities both in realistic manners and in abstract forms.

The mirrors are placed approximately at the creators' eye levels, for them to be able to see their portraits and themselves, and for the viewers to make a gesture to meet the artist's eye level when viewing one's portraits.

Viewers see themselves when they are looking at the art pieces and the art pieces also reflect the environment.

The artists share their experiences and give opportunities for the viewers to join thinking about themselves as well, as they see the portraits of others in the community and their reflected images in the mirrors.

The focus was put on looking at the selves and enhancing the sense of self and claiming the importance of existence in the community and in the world.

The directives varied for the various age groups. For children, time was spent looking at the features on their faces and various facial expressions in the mirror and painting/drawing their worlds (themselves and the significant people around them, most often their families). For adolescents they invested in portraying their outer selves and inner selves. This was for them to develop their sense of identity and to assist in giving a form to abstract aspects, such as feelings, thoughts and emotions in a creative way. For adults they were reflecting on themselves in the past, present and to think about their future selves. The adult immigrant group also looked at each other and affirmed each other by portraying others in the group. They were also able to verbally affirm others in the group as they processed the images.

Some of the participants also engaged in the installation process. This assisted in a more concrete and physical way to solidify their identity in the community. The space where the art pieces were installed protects the art pieces both literally and metaphorically, as they are intimate expressions of individuals.