Aislinn Thomas: “As I am and as I become” | Genevieve Gaignard, "Selfie," 2016.

As I am and as I become: Selfie in five times Voice 1 When I look at this photo, I see a different side of myself. I maybe even see sides of myself that I didn't want to see.

Voice 2 Questioning, where am I? And what am I doing taking the photo?

Voice 3 Why am I wearing sunglasses when it's the middle of the night?

Voice 1 People tell me that I look like an actress from a movie, but they don't remember what movie it is.

Voice 4 A veces pueden impresionarse con mi presencia y quizás los intimido un poco, lo sé. Tengo ese efecto en ellos.

Voice 2 I wish to become famous with that painting, and other stuff.

Voice 1 I want the world to see me for who I am but it's hard to capture that in a picture.

Voice 4 Deseo que la gente se tome un instante y que de ese instante lo haga una eternidad.

[pause] Voice 2 I am in a photograph called Selfie.

Voice 1 Created by Genevieve Gaignard Voice 3 in 2016.

Voice 1 The artist was born in Orange, Massachusetts Voice 5 in 1981.

Voice 3 She lives and works in Los Angeles.

Voice 1 The photo I'm in is 21 by 31 inches, in a white frame, Voice 2 maybe around medium, and small, and big.

Voice 1 I was gonna say that it's the size of a TV but most people have bigger TVs these days [laughter]. It’s the size of my TV. Voice 2 It's, like, the perfect size of, like, people seeing what I'm doing and what's around me.

I have sunglasses. I have a flower shirt. And I am taking a selfie with my phone.

Voice 5 I am a woman with lighter skin, Voice 1 pale skin, Voice 4 un color bronceado.

Voice 1 I have a round face with a short nose.

Voice 4 De cuerpo grande.

Voice 1 My hair is blonde.

Voice 3 Maybe strawberry blonde.

Voice 4 Tiene un color canela, tirando un poco a lo rojizo.

Voice 5 Brownish, almost reddish…

Voice 1 And it's wavy.

Voice 5 Curly hair Voice 3 Crimped.

Voice 1 It looks like my hair is straightened.

Voice 4 Déjame te digo que no es completamente lacio, tampoco chino o rizo.

Voice 1 Long, that you can see on my shoulders.

Voice 3 I'm wearing sunglasses.

Voice 1 Large, Voice 5 rounded square sunglasses Voice 3 with a pink tint to them. And frames that are a golden color Voice 5 that give my eyes a warm tint.

Voice 1 I have thick arms. I'm wearing a bathing suit or a tank top.

Voice 5 Maybe it's a tank top?

Voice 3 A tank top shirt.

Voice 5 Flower print...dress

Voice 1 with Hawaiian flowers in red and white and pink.

I'm looking at a camera on my phone, Voice 3 taking a photo of myself with my phone backwards.

Voice 1 My neck is straight and I'm standing tall.

Voice 5 And my left arm is on my hip while my right arm is holding up a cell phone with the back camera facing my face.

Voice 4 Y el destello del flash sobre mi rostro.

Voice 1 The light on my face is orange or peach-colored.

So I look like I'm glowing, Voice 4 como si un pequeño sol iluminara mi cara, exclusivamente para mi.

Voice 5 I look a little bit serious.

Voice 4 No estoy sonriendo.

Voice 3 I look a little lonely and sad.

Voice 5 But I do look confident.

Voice 4 Simplemente me siento segura de estar donde estoy.

Voice 1 And I look proud. [pause] Voice 5 I'm surrounded by a night sky with a lot of palm trees. I seem to be in California.

Voice 3 It's maybe, I don't know, 11pm?

Voice 1 Or very early morning.

Voice 4 Quiero aprovechar esta mezcla de colores en el ambiente.

Voice 1 There's some street lamps that are glowing, and blurred.

Voice 5 I seem to be maybe in a plaza.

Voice 3 A shopping mall.

Voice 5 There's a restaurant, or some sort of building that's red, behind me.

Voice 4 Este espacio donde estoy parada está vacío.

Voice 2 And cars, and, like, shops and houses.

Voice 4 Sin interrupciones, sin gente pasando, sin ruido.

Voice 2 It's really blurry to see what's in the background.

It looks like Voice 5 the image of me is very much in focus. Even the screen on the phone, you can see is more focused.

Voice 1 Well, there's actually two photographs in this picture. In this photograph, there are two photos. You can see the image of the selfie that I'm taking on my phone.

And so, even though someone else is also taking a photo of me, I am also the photographer. [pause] Voice 4 El nombre de mi pieza es simplemente fantástico, Selfie.

Voice 3 I think it was an okay title. I think she could have named me Selfie Behind the Shopping Malls, or Selfie

Behind the Trees. Because I have more to me than just a selfie.

Voice 4 Y como se dice en inglés, Self, yo aquí estoy y tú también estás aquí viendo esta selfie conmigo.

Voice 5 I think the title Selfie reflects how not only I view myself, my perception of myself, but the perception of others...about myself.

Voice 1 The selfie that I'm taking is for myself. And the photograph that I'm in is also a conversation about my identities, and how I exist in the world.

Voice 2 An influencer. Maybe taking a photo on social media, and maybe saying, "Oh oh, I'm here in Los Angeles, if you guys want to say 'hi' or anything!” [a little laugh].

Voice 1 I'm having a conversation with myself in this photo, and people are seeing that conversation.

Voice 5 I look very nice in this photo. I enjoy having it in this gallery.

Voice 1 I feel important, I feel that my presence is of value.

Voice 2 It feels surprising [some laughter]. It feels really surprising. And proud, again. Yeah, proud of myself of being in that photo.

Voice 1 Being here in the gallery, I'm able to take up space in a different way. I also feel that people are seeing me in the moment of...self portraiture.

Voice 5 I think the color contrast is really nice. I like all the cool colors around and me in the center with more warm colors. I feel like I stand out.

Voice 1 It's like when someone who loves you takes a picture of you without you noticing. And I feel the picture that I wanted to take of myself became expanded with this photo. [pause] Voice 4 Deseo que la gente tenga libertad. Deseo que la gente esté presente.

Voice 1 I want people to know that I am more than one or two images.

Voice 2 You can maybe become an influencer once. You can open yourself up and go on social media and everything, and do a lot of things.

Voice 4 Deseo para poder apreciar los pequeños detalles que la vida nos brinda.

Voice 1 I want people to know that my body is my body. I don't belong to anybody.

Voice 2 No matter what happens you'll always become what you want.

Voice 4 El poder saborear, oler, disfrutar de una buena compañía, y por qué no también de tu propia soledad.

Voice 1 I want people to know that I have multiple identities, and...

Voice 5 and my identity is mixed of a lot of different things, not just being feminine, not just being light skinned.

Voice 1 I can live in all of them at the same time. And I do live in all of them at the same time.

Voice 2 And there's a lot of more places to discover and everything.

Voice 4 Yo creo que eso es el arte, tener la capacidad de poder interpretar una pieza en diferentes formas. Es tan sencillo y tan complicado a la vez. *** Contributors Voice 1 Voice 2 Voice 3 Voice 4 Voice 5

Veronica Eldredge Nicole Machuca Isabel Hertel Ugho Badú Marissa Torres