A Self-Portrait of My State of Mind
As I wrote in my earlier post on the series, I used to paint a self-portrait every year and call it “State of the Art”. At some point I stopped. By 2022, I had been doing it again for three years. I hope to continue for as long as I can hold a brush.
The project is less about making a realistic likeness. I am recognizable in the picture, although it would hardly do for a passport photo. What interests me is my state of mind: how I see the world, myself and my place in it. Those things keep changing, so it makes sense to return to them each year.
The Start
When I began this work, I was happy with the concept and the first steps. I expected it to go well. The next day, though, I lost my concentration. Someone had tried to cheat me in my online business with a particularly clever trick. After more than twenty years of trading, I thought I knew most of them. What annoyed me most was that I had almost fallen for it.
Still distracted, I failed to check whether the ink had dried across the whole painting. My fingerprints ended up all over the lower part. I could not undo them, and they weakened the sense of depth. It is not a disaster, but I hate carelessness in my work.
I went on and tried to salvage what I could. The painting has its charms. The red elements, vaguely reminiscent of Asian characters, sit in sharp contrast to the expressive face. That contrast gives me something to look at beyond the mistake.
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State of the Art: A Self-Portrait Series · Too Young to Die · State of the Art: Self-Portrait Gallery
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