Under the supervision of Pete Brooks, I developed Mask Surgery, an interactive
performance-installation examining self-identity through Jacques Lacan’s ‘mirror stage’ theory. Lacan posits that identity forms through external reflections and others’ evaluations.

This project deconstructed the relationship between self-perception and external validation. Participants acting as ‘surgeons,’ selected blank masks and had three minutes to transform them under specific ‘surgical’ rules. Completed masks symbolized individuality, while abandoned ones were discarded as ‘medical waste.’ The setup, merging convex mirrors with masks into an enormous ‘eye,’ evoked themes of surveillance and the fragmented self.

Lacan’s assertion that the self is alienated through external constructs was visually embodied.