Nadia

 

"However, advertising is not only about retail sales. It is a form of communication that reaches millions of people and promulgates shared values. Advertisements create communities of like-minded individuals"

"Consumption, advertising, fashion and the display of possessions are inextricably attached to the processes of self-invention."

"Fashion is also a process that transforms the mundane activities of everyday life into more elaborate and complex aesthetic experiences by altering the emotional investment surrounding the display"

"When we encounter one another in the anonymous sphere of the public domain, our clothes become garrulous and disclose desires and the secrets of the heart"

Representation in art and popular culture enables individuals from underrepresented groups to see themselves in the media. As "the idea of personal identity becomes synonymous with the art of thinking about oneself in the social world," utilizing art to portray oneself enables artists to share their stories and identities with the world, creating a more diverse field with a myriad of viewpoints and experiences (Finkelstein 136). Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald are strong proponents of this, as they both work to uplift and diversify art with Black subjects and stories in their works. With this, it becomes important who makes the images as one can not represent a culture to which they do not belong. Artists should be able to tell their own stories from their own cultures and experiences, representing themselves in their work and taking control of their own narratives.