Images of Identity
By Elaine W. Ng
Nowadays, most of us watch the world change through
a screen. This was the case for multimedia artist Simon
Fujiwara, who observed the torrent of images on social
media as the pandemic and social movements, such as Black
Lives Matter, revealed societal fractures. Taking a closer
look at collective and personal reckonings with notions of
identity that were occurring around him, and the mediation
of these issues, particularly through social media, he began
a new body of work that revolves around Who, the cartoon
bear seen on this issue’s cover, who is on a quest to define
themself in a world full of projected personas and images.
Speaking to contributor Frances Arnold about his latest
works, he explained: “In the past I’ve dealt with people who
have become like cartoons. But what if I make a cartoon that
then walks into the real world and sees it in this reduced
way that’s essentially already there?” Tracing the turns in
Fujiwara’s practice in her cover Feature, Arnold reveals the
artist’s evolving approach to understanding the relationships
between identity and image.