Too Much and Not Enough, Based on All Available Data

figure made up of measuring tape with a scale for a face, holding a bank statement and phone with all their zeroes on social media, surrealist art by Gwenn Seemel — Gwenn Seemel
*Too Much and Not Enough, Based on All Available Data*
2023
acrylic on panel
18 x 14 inches

What is this figure telling you? What is the expression on its face? How do the bank statement and phone make you feel?

Because the scale was there in my bathroom, waiting to weigh me, every day I’d step right up. It was a compulsion for data, though the numbers never made much sense in terms of how I felt about my body. It’s funny to think how long it took me to realize that a scale doesn’t automatically have to be used, but less amusing to think that I still haven’t taken the lesson to heart.

To be fair, society is obsessed with numbers: our weight, our clothing size, our bank account, and our social media popularity are just some of the ways we’re measured. What do these stats actually help us to understand about our own experience of the world? Of all the records about you, which one do you feel best represents you in real life?

To see the making of Too Much and Not Enough, check out this blog post.