How do you know who you are?

And how can you prove that to somebody else?

I think about identity a lot. I am interested in understanding my own past and my own self, and I am interested in other people’s experiences as well.

This week I gained some new perspective on identity; an unlikely source of inspiration -  the drivers license office. There, because it was time for an in-person-take-the-vision-test-bring-a-bunch-of-documents renewal experience, I found myself on a plastic chair, one of a number of people on plastic chairs, each holding on to our folders full of gathered identification papers, waiting to be called by number to one of ten numbered work stations.

I passed. I had all the required documents. (No small task!) With my new cataract-free eyes I passed the vision test without glasses. And now I have new updated proof of who I am.

It was actually an odd and thought-provoking experience.

Irony #1 . . . Being herded from standing in line to the plastic chair to the cubicle and finally out the door was – though professional and efficient – a dehumanizing experience. All to prove one’s unique identity.

Irony #2 . . .That all of this verification is to create the enhanced security for travel and having a gold star on one’s identification. Did anybody actually think through the historical meaning of identifying people with gold stars?

 Further,  it made me think of those who are unable to gather all the documentation required, for whatever reason, and how frightening and unbalancing that must be.

And I thought of how hard people work, especially artists, to find their unique voice. And then to express it.

How amazing that a good poet can be identified by a few short lines of verse, if their artistic voice infuses those lines. Every voice is not the same.

How amazing that visual artists can be identified by their unique style. Given the same sets of tools and materials, two artists will produce completely different works.

The differences, I believe, will come from developing your own sensitivity, your own set of interests and passions, your own representational vocabulary. Unique work is much less often a matter of technique or material.

There are only so many colors.
There are only so many fabrics.
There are only so may things to do with the fabric.

The challenge – the joy – the work – the hope of an artmaker is to develop ways of working that comprise a unique and interesting voice.

I’ve been showing bits of my quilt “Growing Unseen” in this post. It’s a work that explores the concept of identity and uniqueness. And, because it’s one of the works I am exhibiting at the textile show at the Ormond Memorial Museum, I have been thinking about it, along with my drivers-license-inspired thoughts about identity. If you’re interested you can learn more about this work on my website HERE.

Finally, for readers who are in Central Florida, please accept this invitation to my gallery talk at the Ormond Museum this week. (With apologies, it’s an in-person event only. No online options) I would love to see some friendly faces there.

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

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