The Object In the Mirror Is Closer Than It Appears
“People, I have discovered, are layers and layers of secrets. You believe you know them, that you understand them, but their motives are always hidden from you, buried in their own hearts. You will never know them, but sometimes you decide to trust them.”― Veronica Roth
Pentimento
It is often said that people represent multiple layers of personality and disposition. I know I do. I believe the ways we present ourselves to the world are a sum total of our experiences, skills and knowledge. How we view ourselves is, in many ways, the reflection of the mirror we hold up before us. It's the image of us, not the real thing, but the perception. Alder called it "private logic", and it can be expressed by answering the following prompts:
I am, other people are, the world is, therefore...
How we answer these prompts largely exposes how we perceive ourselves and the ways we fit, or not, into the world around us. The answers to these prompts will undoubtedly change over time as a result of our evolving experiences, developed skills and the things we've learned that add to the multi-layered reality we encounter through our experiences and those of others. A curious phenomena in the art world provides a metaphor to this idea of the multi-layered reality. A canvas covered in multi-layered images is referred to as "pentimento."
The word pentimento is derived from the Italian 'pentirsi', which means to repent or change your mind. Pentimento is a change made by the artist during the process of painting (The National Gallery, London, n.d.).
I find it fascinating to consider why an artist may choose to cover up previous versions of one creative canvas. Could it be that they simply weren't fond of the way their painting was going and didn't want to waste the canvas so they began a new painting, or perhaps the layers of the painting are reflections of their changing mood or point of view as the art piece took shape. In the latter case, it becomes really interesting to consider what those mood changes might have been caused by, and how that changed the tone of the paining. It's conceivable when encountering an artistic painting that we're getting a glimpse into the mind and soul of the artist and the private logic that person was feeling in that moment in time.
I believe it's a good thing to consider that we're all expressing ourselves as these artists did in the moment based on how we see ourselves, others and the world around us. Each one of us is a "pentimento" painting with layers of paint on the canvas, each telling a unique and relevant chapter of the story that became the evolving piece of art at any given point in time. In my relationships, thinking deeply about my layers, and the layers of others allows me in the least to address them knowing their stories run deeper than the surface that gets reflected in a mirror.
A most, I am exposed to the depth of a person's story, all of the things that have helped shape who they are, what they think of others and how we can both experience the world together in mutually beneficial ways.
The National Gallery, London. (n.d.-b). Pentimento | Glossary | National Gallery, London. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/glossary/pentimento#:~:text=The%20word%20pentimento%20is%20derived,beneath%20a%20subsequent%20paint%20layer.
User. (2022, December 8). Discovering a Pentimento: A Secret under Paintings. Art Fervour. https://artfervour.com/discovering-a-pentimento-a-secret-under-paintings/
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