Cut, Trimmed, Snipped, and Clipped: A Junior Experimental Project by Parker Malachowsky (2013)

I wish I had a beard. Not having one makes me feel detached from the men in my family and Mother Nature. Yet, at the same time, embarking on the road to facial hair is a journey away from our society. So I remain barbered and unnatural. With this piece, I was exploring the sensation of loss that I experience through adhering to the supposed standards of our culture. What we synthesize eliminates a part of ourselves. We consciously suppress many characteristics in order to fit in. However, this causes us to lose our place in the universe. If we conceal our true selves for long enough, we too will forget what we look like.

I created this piece using different fabrics. After scanning them in, I used photoshop to cut, position, and transform them into a shape I felt resembled the glorious mane of a caveman. Using blur filters, I attempted to create a sense of separation. The background began as a simple photograph of a metal grate. However, through effecting, I tried to make an unnatural camouflage, not hiding us in nature, but instead from it.