Illusion of reality / reality of illusion

technical description

Mask moulded in one piece in sinamay and red satin tape. It covers the face, leaving only an area between the eyes visible.

Size 460x235x50mm, 290 gr., 2011.

concept

According to French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan each individual in their early childhood becomes aware of their body as a whole when they consciously observe their reflection in the mirror. A process referred to as the "mirror stage". No one can perceive themselves as a whole (from head to toe), the only way we see ourselves is through our reflection in the mirror. But the mirror is unable to show (or our eyes are incapable of seeing) the three-dimensionality of our own self. In this sense our back becomes something unfamiliar, without significance for our consciousness. Dinu wants us to grasp that our self perception is distorted and that there is a thin boundary between illusion and reality: taking for granted that a true image of ourselves is but an illusion.

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