Distorted Friendship

This piece explores my shifting perceptions of friendship and the realization that isolation often begins within one’s own perspective. Inspired by personal experience, I reflected on a time when I felt distant from my friends—believing they were avoiding and shutting me out. Through honest communication, I realized my perception had been distorted by insecurity and self-doubt.

Visually, this distortion is portrayed through an eye gazing into a color-tinted magnifying glass, which reveals two contrasting expressions of the friends. Yet through this lens, the vibrant, welcoming face becomes dulled, leaving only the expression of avoidance. The individual, overwhelmed by emotional turmoil, becomes trapped in resentment and misunderstanding.

This piece serves as an immersive depiction of the emotional complexity I experienced and a visual reflection of the lesson I learned: that sometimes, the barriers between ourselves and others exist only in the ways we choose to see them.