For my Memory Project, I created an acrylic painting on an old mirror I picked up from a thrift store. My painting is meant to represent a memory coping mechanism that I experienced when dealing with living far away from all familiar faces in my life. I began to believe strangers’ faces were ones that I had recognized from home. It was a strange phenomenon but I believe it was a way for my brain to feel at ease and at home, even though I was not. The mirror is meant to represent a distorted reflection of oneself and others. The paint partially covers the reflection that the mirror presents, making it difficult to look in. The painting shows multiple distorted faces, overlapping and fluid to describe the faces that changed in order to find comfort. Familiarity is comforting and I believe in times where that doesn’t exist the brain will find ways to make things familiar.

My Research:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3076307/

https://casapalmera.com/blog/how-trauma-affects-your-memory/#:~:text=Memory%20loss%20is%20a%20natural,forget%20details%20of%20the%20event

https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/coping-mechanisms