HUIRAN ZHANG
I dreamt that someone was stealing my hair：an exploration of anxiety through the medium of diaristic illustration
Summary
The transformation of the media through modern communication technology is leading to a radical change in the medium and we have gradually entered the age of the 'visual'. As Alan Male argues, illustration is an applied image, an applied art form that can be used to communicate content to an audience through a form of visual communication. I believe that in modern society, illustrated images are more accessible to the public than the subjective nature of a single text that can overly influence the viewer's judgement.
This research aims to explore the illustration as a diary-like practice, focusing on the 'hair loss anxiety' among young people and the behavioural changes that are made to cope with this anxiety, to express the contemporary anxiety experienced by me and my peers (especially Chinese people aged 20-30). I posted my autobiographical illustrations on social media platforms, collected comments from different people on social media platforms about the series of illustrations on 'hair loss anxiety' and created a second version of the illustrations in black and white based on the text of the comments. The illustrations are made up of black and white lines. It is a qualitative research based on an internet ethnography methoodology . This project is a practice- led research exploration of the topic of anxiety based on the field of illustration.
Keywords:illustration,young people, hair loss anxiety, cyber-anthropology, body management
WHERE IS MY HAIR?
This study proposes how illustration in the visual age can tell the story of the phenomenon of 'hair loss anxiety' in China's post-90s youth population. It is based on David Kolb's experiential learning theory and a methodology based on cyber-ethnography. This illustration-based study explores the 'hair loss anxiety' population in the context of everyday life and further explores body management and group anxiety.
With the development of the Internet, "hair loss anxiety" as a subhealthy state of individual psychology and emotions deserves our consideration. Through illustrations shared in social media, I hope to use images to convey information and show the current state of anxiety faced by me and my peers, so as to draw the attention of the public. Due to the rapid development of the internet and the impact of the epidemic era, people are more willing to express their emotions and express themselves in the virtual space of the internet, which facilitates the conditions for my research. In the future, I will not stop my illustrations, I will still use them to record my life and express my views on the world, and I will continue to build an exchange of information between people or strangers through illustration.
· Creative Process
· Print books
