Constrained Vision – Exploration on Dehumanizing Professional Life
This series examines the oppressive nature of urban life and professional conformity through worm’s eye perspectives, emphasizing the overwhelming dominance of societal expectations. I aimed to invite viewers to think about how conformity and a focus on productivity can make urban life feel impersonal and overwhelming.
The black and white drawings that captures the late-night essence of urban life, emphasizing the relentless societal pressure that people face daily. The sharp contrasts between the stark light and the engulfing darkness mirror the demanding nature of city life, where the light represents the ceaseless expectations to work and perform. The solitary figures contribute to a feeling of isolation and detachment, despite being in a bustling metropolis.
“Constrained Vision” is a painting that delves deep into the oppressive nature of urban professional life, depicted through the metaphor of office workers with traffic cones as heads. This surreal representation underscores the dehumanizing pressure and loss of individuality faced by many in the corporate world. The cones symbolize both the silencing of personal expression and the directional control exerted by societal norms and corporate mandates. This suggests that these workers are merely cogs in a machine, guided by external commands without a sense of personal direction or autonomy.
The looming background amplifies this sense of oppression, representing the powers of corporate entities overshadowing the individuals. This painting acts as a powerful critique on the modern work environment, challenging people to reflect on the human cost of living in such a productive-driven society.
“Beneath the Cone” is a visually arresting painting that captures the suffocating pressure of modern society. From a worm’s eye view, we see the sky and everything else enveloped under a massive red traffic cone, symbolizing the overwhelming burden and control exerted by societal expectations. The central figure, hunched and constrained by a traffic cone for a head, mirrors the struggles with the weights of conformity and control. The cone over the head suggests a blocked perspective, where personal insight and expression are stifled, leaving the figure to live life with limited vision.
The towering skyscrapers in the background reinforces the idea that not only individuals but the entire environments are under the same oppressive influence. Through this piece, I’d like to eloquently deliver the message of the exhausting nature of living in a success-driven society, where both people and places seem trapped under the weight of uniformity and expectations.
