My concentration focuses on eating disorders. The series focuses specifically on men because eating disorders are often only thought to be a women's disease. It portrays the struggles and stigma surrounding people dealing with eating disorders. I chose this topic because I have dealt with an eating disorder myself, and I want to remind others that men also struggle with body image.
My concentration shows the impacts eating disorders have on the male body and mind. Because eating disorders are often only associated with women, I chose to focus on men. Because I have had bulimia, I’ve had first hand experience with disordered behaviors and way of thinking. A lot of my pieces correlate with my own experiences. Piece 1 shows the early stage of an eating disorder which is self doubt and comparing oneself to others. It depicts a man gazing at a television with with extremely thin looking models. Piece 2 depicts a boy over exercising, something I used to do religiously. Some of the pieces are conceptual like piece 9 which represents bulimia with fingers inside an open mouth, while others are more literal like piece 8, which is of a boy refusing to eat dinner. Nearly all of the people are portrayed with unrealistic, neon skin colors. Piece 10 has bright blue, glowing hands and piece 11 has fluorescent green skinned boy whose hair is falling out. All of the pieces in the series have a dream like tone similar to the feeling people have when malnourished.