An attempt to understand and accept one's own body, to study the possibility of objectivity to the subjective, and to be someone who would create a monument of oneself.
"I had an idea about creating a monument.
I think I wanted to finish this Master program with a grand finale, and what better way than to create a statue of myself? Can I work with this project while forcing myself into a role play where I’m a narcissistic artistic genius with megalomania, thinking of herself as a revolutionary hero? If I was that kind of person, the monument would be a preparation for the future moment of grandness and fame, but also a symbol of hope for peace inside me, after so many years of civil war.
Why wait for when I’m dead until I receive my great appreciation and won’t be able to enjoy it?
That seems boring to me.
Why not start where it all ends? Why not make a monument by myself, of myself, with myself, for myself, and my possibly imaginary group of followers? I don’t know if I can, but I like the idea."
- The things I could do, The things I should do, The things I try to do, The things I haven’t done (2020), p.3, Master Essay by Irina Laaja, Umeå Academy of Fine Arts, Umeå University
