Advanced Life Drawing : The Twins

For my identity assignment I decided to explore one of the most important and defining aspects of my identity, being a twin. My sister, Amber, and I are identical twins, meaning if you don’t know us very well or see us at a distance we could be confused as being each other. So, this is what I wanted to focus on for my first project. The drawing is approximately 30in by 42in and drawn using charcoal. The purpose of making it this size is because I wanted the drawing to resemble a standard printed photograph. I also completed my drawing using charcoal in order to establish a sense of nostalgia. In the center of my paper I drew a picture of both my sister and me sitting next to each other as toddlers around the age of three or four. We are wearing the same outfits as well as matching hats. The faces, however, are missing and in the place of each face I wrote the text “I’m not Amber” and “I’m not Autumn”. The reason I drew us as toddlers is because I wanted to make a point about how my sister and I have always been paired together and seen as one person rather than as individuals. Of course, we wore the same clothes and did almost everything together, which perhaps added to the confusion. The remainder of the paper is completely blank, bringing attention and focus to the center. Not only were we usually grouped as one person since we were babies, we were also mixed up and called by the wrong name, virtually causing us to assume each other’s identity’s as well as our own. For instance, if I hear the name Amber I automatically turn and look to see who is calling me and then realize that that’s not actually my name. Also, another reflex reaction that both my sister and I have developed is that when we are called by each other’s name, me as Amber and her as Autumn, we automatically respond and say “I’m not Amber” or “I’m not Autumn”, which is why I wrote these words on top of our faces rather than drawing in our faces. We were losing our individual identities because people did not really try to tell us apart. They saw two people who looked similar and took a fifty/fifty guess, or they just called us “the Twins”. Being a twin is probably the most important and impactful part of my life, but it also makes it difficult because of the way my sister and I were considered as one while we were growing up. It has made it difficult for us to develop our own identities and have people see us as individuals. This was a personal project for me that gave me an opportunity to explore myself and my sister as being twins.