ABOVERoxana
Halls,Laughing
WithMyMouth
Full,oilonlinen,
70x60cm
OPPOSITEPAGE
RoxanaHalls,
BACK,oilon
canvas,20x20cmFROMFARLEFT
Self-Portrait,
Frowning;Self-
Portraitina Cap,
Laughing;Self-
Portraitina Cap,
Open-Mouthed.All
1630 etchingsby
RembrandtvanRijnW
hile reflecting on his extensive voyages in
self-portraiture, the great British painter
Stanley Spencer once wrote, “I have always
looked forward to seeing what I could fish out of myself,
I am a treasure island seeker and the island is myself.”
I first read these words in his journal many years ago.
I took them in my hands as if being given an invisible map,
one that I knew would reveal hidden realms but of which
only I could be the cartographer. Since then I’ve explored
the genre many times and have painted such an array of
self-portraits over three decades that you might suppose
that my map is complete. Not so: much as Spencer might
have been intimating, the more I have searched, the more
I have traversed uncharted territory.
In this visually saturated age, most of us are more than
accustomed to readying our faces for the camera, often in
a split second with a well-rehearsed pose. Similarly, when
we take pause to look in a mirror, we snap into a familiar
demeanour. In this Instagram age, our selfies are easily
replicated and disposable, merely alluding to the potential
we all have to get under our own skin and look more
closely, with compassionate honesty and imagination.
How then can we set sail and circumnavigate beyond the
coastline to uncover our buried treasure?
As pathway leader for the Contemporary Portraiture FD
at London’s Art Academy, I teach a dedicated self-portrait
coursethatis designedtoenableourstudentstoexplore
theirownpotentialthrougha seriesofexercisesdesigned
tohelpthemtolookbeyondtheselfie.Overthenextthree
issues,I’llbediscussingsomeofmykeystrategiesand
guidingreadersthrougha classexercisetheycan
undertakeontheirown.
Artistshavealwaysbeeneagertoexperimentwithand
incorporatenewtechnologiesintotheirwork;aslongas
mirrorshaveexisted,artistshavegazedintothemand
madeuseoftheirreflectedpersonages.Toseeourselves
asa usefulcreativetoolandutiliseourrawcorporeal
materialcanbenotonlyfunctionalbutthrilling.
Inmanyofhisetchings,Rembrandtdepictedhimself
frowning,exclaimingorlaughing,usinghisownfeatures
tomimica widearrayofhumanemotionalstates.These
worksnotonlydemonstratehisartisticvirtuosity,butit’s
thoughtthattheyalsobecamecharacterstudiesforhisreligious or history paintings. The 18th-century German
sculptor Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, meanwhile, is best
known for his extraordinary series of 60 or so sculpted
kopfstücke – or “head pieces”. While these self-portraits
are observational works, each depicts an inner emotion or
psychological state, forever frozen into an often profoundly
disquieting grimace.
And it’s not only visual artists who have made use
of their own reflections. In her diary, Charles Dickens’
daughter recalls seeing her father pull strange faces in the
mirror, conjuring up characters and performing the scenes
in his books even before he wrote them down.TECHNIQUES
When we practise self-portraiture, we gift ourselves
one of the most exciting creative opportunities. We areNATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON
Artists & Illustrators 75