T
hrough social interaction, people make decisions about their self-identity that have consequences on the perception others make of them. The Canadian artist Meryl McMaster (Plains Cree Member of the Siksika Nation) reflects this concept in her portrait collection Second Self.
The collection, now on view at the National Museum of the Ameri-
can Indian in New York, explores questions of how people construct their sense of self through lineage, history and culture. Second Self rep- resents the complexities of identity; the drawings and sculptures act like masks or personas to conceal and change the individual. It was first exhibited in 2013 when McMaster was selected for the RED: Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, a biennial program of the Eiteljorg Mu- seum in Indianapolis. “I began this series being interested in exploring the challenges of
accurately representing identity through portraiture and, similarly, in first impressions when you meet someone,” says McMaster. “This series is also an observation on both traditional and modern portraiture; the subject is often depicted in a way that emphasizes their desired pro- jected self.” The artist points to social media as a “vivid example” of a platform
where people create a digital performance of themselves, but then make it difficult for others to accurately gauge a person’s truer self. McMaster says, “In Second Self, the images feature two constructions
– the subjects’ bust and the sculpture of the subjects’ blind-contour self-portrait. I would like viewers to consider which of these is the more accurate representation of the subjects’ inner self. The answer is not necessarily clear.” The image Meryl 2, a self-portrait of the artist, has become a ban-
ner image for the exhibition during its current run at the Museum. It features McMaster in a serious, contemplative gaze looking directly at the camera while pulling a wire sculpture that hangs over her head. She explains that the image is meant to portray the attempt to “tear
away” and “warp” the construction that has been built around her, a possible representation of the “desire to shed these protective social masks or personas.” Growing up, McMaster found a love of photography from interact-
ing with her family, most notably her parents and great-grandfather, who experimented with photographic techniques and portraiture. By the time she was in high school, her interest solidified and she discov- ered artistic influences in works by many different artists, including Cindy Sherman, Man Ray and Frida Kahlo. Later, the work of New York Times illustrator Saul Steinberg in Le Masque proved invaluable as a source of inspiration for Second Self. Her work often utilizes a mixed-media approach, something she
began to hone while attending OCAD University in Toronto, Ont. “I have found that it better suits my practice to combine multiple
media,” she says. “My resulting works take advantage of both the spon- taneity of photography and the systematic craft of other media, namely sculpture. Nowadays I don’t find myself looking at any one artist or
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 49
“I HAVE FOUND THAT IT BETTER SUITS MY PRACTICE TO COMBINE MULTIPLE MEDIA,” SHE SAYS. “MY RESULTING WORKS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BOTH THE SPONTANEITY OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE SYSTEMATIC CRAFT OF OTHER MEDIA, NAMELY SCULPTURE.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
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