With this series, I delve into the concealed emotional landscapes of icons once revered for their faceless power, transforming them from symbols of obedience and domination into vessels of deeply personal reckoning. By focusing on the moments where armor becomes insufficient—where gloved hands futilely attempt to staunch the flow of guilt, fear, and sorrow—I seek to unravel the distance between legendary myth and vulnerable humanity.
Each portrait disrupts the narrative of invulnerability: The spotless veneer of the stormtrooper and the imposing mask of Darth Vader are both marred—not just by the physical traces of blood or earth, but by the weight of their internal confessions. Hands cover visors and helmets in archetypal gestures of shame, silence, and anguish, suggesting that beneath every uniform or mask awaits an unspoken crisis of conscience.
I chose stark, minimalistic backgrounds—marked primarily by saturated reds—both as a nod to the operatic grandeur of their origin stories and as an invitation to contemplate the consequences of collective violence through an individual lens. These fields of color echo not only imperial insignia, but also the living pulse of memory, suffering, and regret.
Ultimately, this series is an exploration of accountability and the limits of dehumanization. I want the viewer to confront familiar icons stripped of certainty and strength, hovering in the liminal space where myth unravels and the possibility of redemption flickers. In mourning, in silence, and in remorse, these figures become what we all are beneath our chosen armor: painfully, redemptively human.
