Artwork Description

Oil on wood, ready to hang.

Signed on the front.

This artwork comes with an external frame

This was my first self-portrait in over 15 years. Itā€™s based on themes explored in therapy: identity, home, shyness, feeling like an ā€˜object of interestā€™ coming from a bi-ethnic background, being under the constant gaze of others both during and after puberty and not being able to or not wanting to meet that gaze. I wanted to portray the deeply human desire to be seen, as well as my relatively recent willingness to gaze within and truly see and know myself as I am.

The portraitā€™s small size forces the viewer near and invites them to observe me. Itā€™s a challenge to myself to allow myself to be gazed uponā€”albeit by only one or two at a time. Iā€™m off centre, slightly tentative, but still, I meet the gaze head-on. Unlike the mediaeval Madonna, my gaze is direct. With the spotlight behind me facing the viewer, they are being observed as much as I am.

ā€œApart from material necessities, the most important need of any human being is to be seen. [ā€¦] while the desire to be seen is great in all of us, it is countered by an equal force pulling in the opposite direction, which is the desire to be like everyone else. [ā€¦] To be seen is vital, but not to be seen is vital too. Nothing feels more perilous to us than to be exposed to the attention and gaze of others.ā€

ā€“ Karl Ove Knausgaard, The End: My Struggle Book 6

Contact Brittany

Medium

Oil on panel

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Framed and ready to hang

This artwork is currently framed and ready to hang.

It comes with an external frame.

Framed dimensions - 32.0(W) x 32.0(H).

Artwork dimensions - 30.4(W) x 30.4(H).

#portrait, #woman, #freckles, #spotlight, #madonna, #purple, #ochre

All art by Brittany Jones

Still life of black, Hendrickā€™s Gin bottle filled with golden wattle and gumnut bunches on a black background.Painting of the Araujia sericifera, Moth Plant. A burst-open pod, filled with long, white hairs attached to small, brown seeds lined up neatly within. Four seeds have detached (one with hairs) and are resting on the peach background.The backside of a variegated, sundial sea snail shell in tan, peach, and off white hues. On a grey blue background.Six gumnuts in a very small, blue-green vase. Harsh shadows.
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