Portraits and Self PortraitsI always find it fascinating to watch people having their photo taken. It is a pose executed specifically with the intention of adopting a guise by which they wish to be viewed by the world, carefully selecting the characteristics they would prefer people see, and hiding the insecurities which remain hidden beyond a photo's time-frozen frame. Auden stressed "The image of myself which I try to create in my own mind in order that I may love myself is very different from the image which I try to create in the minds of others in order that they may love me" (W.H.Auden, Prologue: The Birth of Architecture 1966). I think self portraits are a mixture of the two. An artist rarely paints exclusively for himself: if this were the case, we would rarely get a chance to share in their work, and almost always the hope of an audience lies subconcsiously in the workings of a paintbrush. As such a self-portrait is the image of the artist in a light which he wishes to present to the world. But the use of art in evaluating the self is an invaluable tool which countless artists have drawn on as a thought process and expression of the influences, conflicts and elements that shape their person. All of my portraits say something about my personality, though much of what you may interpret is subconcsious and beyond even my intention. |
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Q5: Chez Helen (2008), |
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Nicholas in the Renaissance - 2008 |
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Montmartre n'est pas un endroit ordinaire - 2000 |
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Mother and Child - 2002 |
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Lara/Her Perfect Smile - 2004 |
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Self Portrait - 2005 |
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Two Nicks - 2006 |
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Heartbreak I - 2007 |
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Heartbreak II (Paris in Hues of Gray) - 2007 |
