Month: November 2017

Presenting Ourselves

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Tonight the organizers of the show at the A. P. E. Gallery, Observing Ourselves: 50 Women’s Self-Portraits, had an artists’ talk.  Six artists were on the panel and many others who contributed to the show, including me, were in the audience.  The six panelists, who included the organizers, Jane Lund and Rachel Folsom, talked about how their portraits came about.  Then the question was asked of the audience about why the show was so popular.  Lisa Thompson, who runs A. P. E., said the show was immensely popular, with people revistiting it, people who knew people with pieces in the show, but also many who just walked in off the street.  Of course, when you have dozens of artists, you have all the people associated with them coming to see the show.  But that doesn’t quite explain it.

Self-Portrait , 2017, pastel, 16 3/4" x 21 1/2"

Musings on the Self-Portrait

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So the portrait is done and delivered to the gallery.  I find that I have a very different feeling about it than I would if it were a still-life, or a portrait of somebody else, or just about other subject matter. Part of that stems, I think,  from it feeling rather strange to portray myself. I have never taken or even thought about taking a “selfie”. It’s just not something that ever comes to mind. I guess it feels a bit narcissistic and that feeling flows into how I feel about this self-portrait, just a bit odd. In some ways how I feel about it is similar to that feeling one has sometimes after a conversation, of wanting to say, “That’s not quite what I meant,” or “I’m not finished – I have more to say.”   I haven’t done a self-portrait before, so I don’t know if everyone feels that way.