Mandy Kaufman: capstone

Abstract

The artist's statement: My work is focused on the ways that one can explore identity and the way that one's identity is treated differently by others. As someone who has been through state sanctioned institutional abuse for my identity, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the ways we treat others because of who they are and the ways that we internalize and copy the abuse we suffer in a desperate attempt to fit in. I express this through the language of musical instruments as they are excellent allegories for the way that we express ourselves and interact with the world around us. I particularly focus on old folk instruments that aren’t commonly played to draw a connection to the ways that atypical identities are mistreated by a society that refuses to try to understand and appreciate those differences for what they are. Just as our society distrusts those different than us, many people don’t listen to music made by instruments they are not familiar with. As I have grown to accept my own identity and live with it proudly, I have had to learn to apologize for not letting myself and others sing our own songs and be proud of the peculiar and unique people we are. Almost six years after I left conversion therapy, I now understand the person I was and the ways I abused myself and others by internalizing the thoughts and rationales of my abusers. As I use art to help understand myself and my relationship to society, I also hope my work in some way can help teach others that the unknown and the strange isn't something to be suppressed and punished but accepted and celebrated.