The Self-Portrait Project

Several lines of reasoning converged to create this series of self-portraits.  First Socrates' indiction, "Know thyself" has always seemed like a powerful command.  There was also the feeling that all art is, in some sense, a portrait of the artist.  If that is the case, then why not make that explicit and explore that line of reasoning?

There is a third, tandem motivation: the feeling that one’s appearance has rather little to do with who one really is.  What you look like is a thin outer layer on your identity.  I was troubled when I thought about the history of portraiture.  Traditional portraits look like the outer skin of the person they depict, not their inner being.  Reference to personal identity like books or pens or astrolabs, strike  me as just barely scratching the surface.

We believe socially and we tell our children that what matters is who we are inside.  Martin Luther King Jr., said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

My self-portraits explore the content of my character.  But they are also meant to have a synecdochic relationship to all people.  These are not really just about me, but could refer to almost anyone.

I consider each self-portrait one tile in a large mosaic of identity; a mosaic which is ever evolving.

All the self-portraits are 5’4” square, my height and arm span.  This dimension and shape were suggested to me by Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man, where a person with arms outstretched is inscribed in a circle and a square.  I was already partial to the square and like the challenge of composing in one.  A “square” is also another slang term for nerd or dork, and I think that is very fitting.  With the size and shape set for this series, I feel that that can be my “style” and I am free to put whatever I want, however I want to put it, on the canvas.  I am freed from having a traditional style.

I use the "traditional" medium of paint on canvas for several reasons.  First, I feel the stretcher and fabric are a metaphor for human bones and skin.  These paintings are metaphors for my body/person.  Second, the human form has scarcely changed in 20,000 years.  Why should the material used in representing a person change?  Third, canvas is the practical solution it was 500 years ago when it replaced panel painting as the standard because it is lightweight and therefore more easily transportable than a panel or fresco.  Perhaps someday digital or holographic projections will be more practical, but today paint on fabric is, to my mind, a practical choice and one enriched by a symbolic relationship to the human form.