Goodbye, mon visage!

When one thinks of the word “conceal”, definitions such as, “to hide or not to be revealed” tend to come to mind. Yet, when you dig deeper into the etymology, “the origin and development of the word conceal,” a whole new perspective begins to unfold. 

Whilst considering the deeper meanings of the word conceal, it occurred to me that the word in all its layered meaning reflected man in the totality of his being.

How often throughout the centuries has the body of man been called, “the house of the soul”? Or the phrase, “in the deepest cellar of the heart” been used to illustrate the inner feelings of a person. 

Indeed the human bodycouldeasilybeen considered the ultimate example of concealment save for one aspect…the eyes! It is in the eyes where the emotions are revealed, hide the eyes and it becomes harder to read the emotions. Take it one-step further and conceal the face and a person becomes completely ambiguous to the world.

The notion of a man with a concealed face raises a lot of questions: Who is this man? What is behind the veil? What comes next? Is he hidden/unseen? Is he visible? Is he recognizable? Can he find the freedom to move in life, even though, his face is concealed? What is he trying to tell or say?

By putting this man with a concealed face in a random situation, I, as a visual artist, am protesting for something hidden, something not everyone is aware of, something not everyone can see. Is this man protesting for equality? For sexual revolution? For nudity? For mocking society or tradition? or is he praising solitude?

All these answers are to be hidden and concealed inside this man and him alone.