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Living in a culturally mixed family has challenged my perceptions of self, family, and community paired with responsibilities and identity. Bridging collectivism and individualism within cultural constructs reveal a broad range of viewpoints, creating thought provoking–yet beautiful–tension within the dynamics of relationships. The series, Collective Individual : Glass Portraits, considers the role of the individual’s identity within these cultural structures.

Each of the glass portraits involve the merging of 5 – 8 individuals–who are categorized by ethnicity and nationality–into a single image, similar to multiple exposures. This process subverts the identity of the individual while leaving a residue of the merging process in the final image­, suggesting the presence of a community. The final portrait then represents both the idea of “collective” and “individual”.

The content of the photographs and the sculptural elements of the piece carry equal significance. As a viewer first encounters a Collective Individual: Glass Portrait, they are drawn to the physical and spatial qualities of the work, yet simultaneously addressing the subject within the photograph. Merging two mediums that share a long history–photography and glass–fashions an encounter with the photograph realized when experienced in person. The unexpected framing of the image being upside-down allows for a moment of consideration towards the photograph’s physicality. Closer examination of the glass sphere–equal to the size of the human eye–reveals the image in the initially anticipated orientation connecting the visual and the physical qualities of the work with the physiological and psychological phenomenon of human perception.

The completed art piece unites the portrait composite and the framework of glass, welcoming a dialog about tensions between collectivistic and individualistic cultures, as well as how these mindsets are perceived and reconciled within an individual.

The seven portraits in this series are the beginning of an ongoing project.