Joshua Miels Solo Exhibition ‘Inner Thoughts’ is the continual exploration of the emotional state of mind we attempt to shield from society, and how a face is often a façade.
“For one to truly understand what someone is going through can prove to be a difficult task. When we look at someone we believe we can read their inner emotions. A face can express an array of feelings from happiness to sadness - we can appear composed in the toughest of situations if we wear the right mask. ‘In Two Minds’ (Miel’s previous show) also dealt with the actions and emotion we portray to mask inner turmoil and emotional hardship.
People give false fronts, to give the illusion that they are fine. This is particularly true with males. Men are still being asked to live up to old fashioned expectations – be strong, be brave, be protective.
I look to challenge this assumption. Through my portraits I aim to express the ambiguity of physical emotion by limiting what feelings my subjects portray. These large-scale paintings of males, most of who I know personally appear somewhat nonchalant. Unable to immediately relate with direct human emotions, viewers look past what they see at face-value, prompting people to question the real individual.
