“Adia

Adia Massé

Fine Arts, Sociology

Clowned Around

30 in x 40 in

oil painting and mixed media on canvas

2023

Description:

Clowned Around is a double self-portrait exploring subversive expectations of playfulness. Adia Masse explores the meaning of play through the process of creation, and the deprecating representation of self, characterized through the exaggerated use of absurdity within the sad clown paradox. This painting embodies the unknown and the intriguing territory of play through materially exploring bright neon colours and experimenting with the effects of using recycled material such as collage, yarn, and a mirror. Despite the character’s inner turmoil, the light-hearted use of colour distracts the viewer from the overwhelming message of invasive consumerism hidden within the collage parallel. With the yarn acting as a thread of distortion of the mirror’s reflection of the perceived “true self,” such short periods of distracted satisfaction bring us to realize distress of the mind is “no matter to clown around.”