Showoff

by Ethan Lam

“This piece serves as a commentary on how toxic masculinity can be harmful because the man is forced to hide behind makeup to fulfill the expectation of not acting as the ideal man society projects. The man cries to show that despite the thought that men aren’t supposed to show emotion, it’s completely natural to want to show emotion and to have feelings as nobody is ever truly completely stable. I wanted to try to have a strong light source shining from the upper corner of the painting to have a spotlight on the clown as if he were on a stage. It’s to show that men who have more feminine traits are portrayed as these ‘performances’ rather than being on the same level as others of the same gender as them.”