As we grow older, the tendency to try and fit in becomes engraved in our minds. We are always thinking twice about our actions, and how people will think of us. We weren’t always born like this. Before turning a certain age, we were running around happy and carefree. Many of us can relate to becoming what society expects of us. We construct ourselves to be the most perfect version of ourselves, similar to Nathaniel Quinn’s Mend. In his art piece, there is a figure, starting normally at the bottom, and slowly deconstructs as it goes up. Clothes are something that can’t change, however, humans can. Clothes are not able to deconstruct then reconstruct themselves based on how standards want them to be. The face is made of many parts “mended” together because that is how we are. Nobody has just one persona. We all act differently in different environments to fit in. As stated in a human psychology website, “By belonging to a group, we feel as if we are part of something bigger and more important than ourselves.” We build new “faces”, and each part of the face is a part of us. In Quinn’s artwork, the face is constructed by many pieces, all resulting in the making of one single person.
