About

Shyness represents one of the most central and intriguing dimensions of the human condition. It is pervasive yet, in our cultural context, it has accrued a number of negative connotations that are built into our language. If we “shy away from” people or things, we avoid them, and if we are “shy of” something, our deficiency is apparent. In everyday terms, then, shyness is an obstacle to be overcome.

This project is necessarily rooted in the personal. My goal is not to stomp on the contemporary literature on shyness and celebrate public shyness with the intent to recruit subjects; nor do I mean to be self-indulgent or call for shy people to “get over it.” Rather, by creating new representations through an artistic lens, I wish to highlight its complex nature, its difference from introversion, and to suggest that there is some value to possessing a natural reserve.