Acrylic on linen, ready to hang.

Signed on the front.

A slow accretion of thousands of brushstrokes, informed by thousands of glances, eventually builds a portrait painted from life. Mark-making is educated by drawing analysis, colour theory, and conceptual depth, all contributing to re-imagining the sitter’s likeness of form and personality on canvas. Each viewer is invited to decide for themselves the balance of this self-portrait, and if this work equally depicts the sitter, their personality, or their accomplishments. Indeed, could this be perhaps a portrait of the portrait painting process itself?
The self-portrait takes advantage of intimate knowledge, turning the vulnerability of showing oneself truthfully to the world outward. The artist, both sage and acolyte, is Pygmalion and Galatea in one, and has the opportunity to playfully discuss the elevated psychological place artmaking holds for them. Historically, the sitter is often depicted with symbols of their accomplishments and identity: in this case, the artist’s tools of trade are seen; the colour wheel, the charcoal sketch, the auratised signature of the artist, and the first professional brush this artist ever used.