Alahe Akhavan

During my experience in IB Art class, my artworks were mostly related to the themes of identity and power. Coming to terms with these themes was rather difficult for me because they were challenging topics to be conveyed through just artworks. The reason why I choose to make artworks based on these themes was to show and highlight my thoughts, perspective, and judgments towards the problems we, young people face; whether they come from inside or outside. Inside factors are mostly about mental health, whereas outside factors are about power, specifically societal power, force, and fear. Through my artworks, I used the theme of identity to explore different mental health and personality disorders such as: autism, ADHD, narcissism, and schizoid, which are common, yet for some uncomfortable to talk about. I used this opportunity to show some of the common emotions and thoughts that people with these disorders go through. 

Through my body of work, I ordered my gallery set-up based on my artworks’ media. I used different media such as: drawing with pencil and pen, and painting with acrylic, mainly because I’ve always been more inspired toward artworks with similar media. Starting at the left side, What Can I Be, Brutal Reality, and Saving the Heart artworks are drawings made with black pen. Using pen to create these artwork allowed me to clearly and effectively convey emotions and thoughts about themes of identity and power. In these 3 artworks, I emphasised the main figure(s) with shading them with dark balck and adding texture. In Brutal Reality and Saving the Heart artworks, I used the impressionistic style to draw the sides and the background, making balance, movement, and texture. In the middle, the Personality Based Portrait is a drawing made with pencil. I always wanted to analyze the TV series of Sherlock Holmes characters’ and this was the best opportunity for me to showcase it. Linking some of the Show’s characters’ personalities with different animals allowed me to show the themes of identity and power that each of the characters possess throughout the series. I placed this artwork in the middle mainly because it is the only artwork that sort of differs from the other artworks in terms of size and media, but also because I wanted this one to be emphasized more than others. Finally, on the right side, the Fuzzy Bike Ride Journey of Life, Dissimilar Reality, and Light is No Longer Safe artworks are painted with acrylic. In The Fuzzy Bike Ride Journey of Life and Light is No Longer Safe artworks, I was inspired by the expressionistic style of Vincent van Gogh. Using Gogh’s style, I was able to add texture and movement to my artworks. In all 3 of these artworks, there is a main figure that is emphasised with different shades of white and black. Painting such figures allowed me to show the themes of power and identity in connection to mental disorders and social norms. The reason why I ordered my gallery set-up in this sort of way is because I wanted to show a color balance and not emphasize the colorful artworks more than others. 

I made the background color of my gallery light yellow so it would fit with most of my artworks. Looking at my body of work, although my themes are mainly identity and power, I’d like the viewers to try to communicate through finding meanings and emotions they see fit. With that said, I still want the viewers to consider my themes and try to see them as if they themselves could relate to such artworks. As I mentioned before, the theme of identity, being based on mental health and personality disorders is an important area which I focused on. Artworks such: Brutal Reality, What Can I Be, Saving the Heart, Light is No Longer Safe, Dissimilar Reality, and The Fuzzy Bike Ride Journey of Life, all show different mental health and personality disorders such as: autism, ADHD, narcissism, and schizoid which should be taken seriously, because their impact in young people’s lives are far from what we understand.