Gillian Wearing: Family Stories

“I’m so fascinated by our relationship with new technologies: how we adapt them to our need, and how they change us as human beings.” – Gillian Wearing

In this self-portrait series Gillian Wearing has explored her own identity through her family. She made masks of her family members then wore them as became them for each of the self portraits. She also made masks of her younger self, at three years old and seventeen years old in an exploration of herself, her memories and who she was when she was younger in comparison to who she is now. When first looking at the work, they appear as if they are portraits of her father, mother, brother, a child and a teenager, due to the beautifully made masks, she wears her families faces completely convincingly, to the viewer, completely becoming them. This is such an interesting idea, and I am reminded of the work of Trish Morrissey and her own experimentation of identity and her role within the family. The work is also in conversation with Pixy Liao’s series Experimental Relationship as it also explores the roles of relationships, the way in which we interact with each other. I also experimented with this idea, I became my older brother Rowan, and I have also shot a series where myself, Rowan and Jack all sat on a chair, making a photograph of ourself in the same clothing, the same frame, in an attempt to make us appear as the same person, or at least, reveal our similarities. I think this work is beautiful, it has a sense of quietness about it, it feels understated but says so much. Becoming another family member is a curious idea, fundamentally we are a result of our family, in particular our parents. Wearing has managed to embody this in the work, she has become her parents and brother so clearly that they have become each other, they are also her, as she wears the mast she is so present in the images, just as she is so present within them, and they within her.

As previously explored, identity is an key theme in family, the way in which we share DNA and biology, have the potential to be so similar (like Monette and Mady) yet also the ability to be do different (like myself and my siblings) but fundamentally, we are a part of each other, there is such a fine line between us being ourselves and us being them.

In an article by Paola Paleari for Elephant online, Paleari states that Gillian’s work is so much more than technically skilled, she states that the viewer looks at ‘every single detail in search for a glimpse of the reality behind the accurate fiction, the present moment behind the reconstructed past. Wearing’s work, in general, is something one doesn’t simply view, but rather examine.’ The way in which the viewer looks at the work also replicates the way in which the family dynamic works – unlike other relationships, the family is a connection that will not end, no matter the relationship, therefore every event and life experience make up each mother, father, brother and sister dynamic. The viewer is forced to search the image for tiny details that would hint to reality, but the details are hidden behind a ‘mask’, much like keeping the things hidden and ‘in the family’.