2024 Finalists

This painting explores the themes of identity, concealment, and emotional distance in personal interactions. The two figures, masked as cats, represent the way people often hide their true selves, putting on facades when engaging with others. The artwork is also about a person’s unconscious and conscious desire to manipulate to achieve his goal. And yet, even though it is human nature, the work underlines the danger of a lack of sense of responsibility, escaping responsibility through anonymity. The choice of cat masks is intentional—a cat is both playful and mysterious, representing duality in human nature. On one hand, it evokes cuteness and innocence, but on the other, behind the cute face of a cat hides one of the deadliest hunters, who will enjoy playing with his prey.

By hiding their faces, the figures are stripped of individual expression, leaving only the masks to show their identity. It makes you wonder if there are still faces behind the masks. Or maybe the real face has been lost from the frequent use of masks. There is a red circle in the center of the painting, which symbolizes both connection and separation; it is like a kind of stage where all the events will take place. A boundary that should not be crossed. It is the lines we draw between ourselves and others, boundaries that shape our relationships and interactions, but once crossed, they may lead to consequences we cannot control.

This work invites the viewer to reflect on the masks we all wear, the boundaries we create, and the impact that occurs when we are not fully present or honest in our relationships. It is also about escaping responsibility, the human desire to control and manipulate to achieve the desired result, and about losing one’s personality in order to fulfill it.

(12/33)