“I AM” Series (III) An ongoing collaborative study of portraits of Egos

Latin for “I”, Ego is the sense of self that is constantly attempting to define our personal identity so that we can distinguish ourselves from others. For the purpose of this study Ego is the set of labels or forms used by our individual minds to build our conceptual identity, but Ego is not who we are.

“I Am” explores the relation between our individual need for identity (our ego) and the transcendence of that conceptual connection over time. The series is not intended to portray specific people, but the temporary experience they are having creating their identity. It hints at the idea that when we (people) feel something so deeply, our perspective on reality narrows; when we concentrate on labeling our existence, we fail to look at the larger picture of our being and how are we connected with the rest.

Through our Ego, we tend to equate having, thinking, doing, feeling with being, but defining ourselves through things, thoughts, roles, work, or temporary emotions is limiting. By embracing the plural and never-ending nature of our Ego, and isolating the forms and labels we use to make sense of reality I hope to de-clutter this entanglement of information creating room for personal and collective awareness.

The series attempts to question the philosophical proposition by Descartes “I think, therefore I am”. For instance:
“I think, therefore I am not”
“I do, therefore I am not”
“I have, therefore I am not”
“I feel, therefore I am not”
“I am an image of… therefore I am not”
“I belong, therefore I am not”
“I eat, therefore I am not”

The idea that our identification with form (food, place, body, ideas, etc.) is not who we are is a concept that is hard to grasp. After all, without identification with form it feels like we are boundless.

Central to this study is the recognition that our conceptual sense of identity is not who we are, but a mere attempt to understand reality, which -as we know- is a relative concept. Paradoxically, when we label or define our identity, becomes experience and part of the Ego. According to Eckhart Tolle, in A New Earth “recognition of the ego is the key to self-awareness.” There is no escape of the Ego but that is a good thing.

Over time, I envision the series to contain in enough portraits of Ego, hoping the collaboration will allow us to individually become self-aware of the labels we all use to identify ourselves (our never-ending plan to define our existence). That self-awareness of Ego could bring us closer to ourselves, and an understanding of the rest.
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[I am], I Contain Multitudes

[I Am] Free

[I Am] Confused

[I Am] Lost, Alone

[I Am] Letting Go

[I Am] In a Dream