Self-Esteem and Mirrors

Mirrors are reflections of what and who you are. As a high school girl, I've seen many females in my world, whether at school, the mall, or a random bathroom, obsessed with the way they look. They feel like they need to fix their makeup in order to "fit" in with society. The media is filled with makeup products that are supposed to make girls look better and be accepted. Every single store contains pictures of photoshopped models advertising designer clothes. The modern world has changed the natural definition of beauty.

 

While studying Emerson's Nature in class, I related to the chapter beauty the most. Therefore, when Mike, our humanities teacher, asked us to come up with a project that connected to Emerson, I chose to decorate the mirrors in the girls bathroom with Emersonian quotes and symbolic, laser cut images. Emerson talks about how, beauty, in its purest form, exists only in Nature. That being said, Emerson goes on to explain how nature beautifies humans when they commit a natural action (something that satisfies the soul such as Love, Justice, Truth or Freedom), an action of Reason. Emerson believes "Truth and goodness, and beauty, are but different faces of the same All."  

 

In this project, I hope to inspire girls to formulate their own opinion about what beauty means to them. My partner and I brainstormed designs that visually represented some of Emerson's thought provoking quotes. Then we laser cut them out and then installed them in the girl's bathroom. By designing the very mirrors, High Tech High girls spend time in front of, I hope to convince them to think about real, inner beauty, that is everlasting.