Colors Of Unity

One is not just defined by one's place of birth, origin or parentage but moulded by the myriad influences through life; friends, associations, relationships, travel, books, audiovisuals and now the worldwide web!
This series of portraits is an endeavour to focus on the individual; the greater the emphasis on individualism, the less the focus on religious, racial and social divides. Even in today's connected world, conceptions of the self may lack external validity when exported to other cultural contexts; diversity leads to more unity.
We see in every individual human behaviour and mental processes variability and invariance under diverse cultural conditions. Preconceived notions determine what is age or gender appropriate. Cultural, regional, and race bias created by the influence of our surroundings define our views on sexism, homophobia and sexual variance. Reactions to colour differ continually with changing times, attitudes and new dictates. Wars, slavery, and racism led to skin colour discrimination, creating a visual demarcating line between the oppressors and the oppressed in recent centuries. Some of these stigmas continue into the present day yet are being challenged and redefined. Colours worn for various occasions vary significantly from one group of people to another. For example, black is the colour of mourning for some and white for others. White may symbolise purity worn by brides in some cultures and yet is viewed as an absence of colour and therefore worn by widows in other cultures, who may favour fire colours such as red and yellow. Blue is the colour for baby boys and pink for baby girls in western cultures but has no significance in other cultures.
In these paintings, to emphasise the idea of blurring biases of race, gender, age, and sexual orientation, men and women are depicted with metallic lips, colourful skin and hair, and reflective glasses. The glasses symbolise a view of the external world, its reflection on the mind. This influence is unique to every individual, with the individual's interpretation and expression also being unique.
The paintings are mounted on transparent acrylic frames, mirroring the reflection through the glasses on the face creating an illusion that the glasses are letting light filter through just as the frame does.

Colour Spectrum :

Iris Vision
Iris Apfel the inimitable style icon at 96 who blends the old and the new, east and west and colours in every hue! an inspiration!

Canvas Size : 61cm X 91.5 cm
Medium : Acrylic on Canvas