Expressive Self-Portraiture

Dr. Roxanne Farrar

 

Ancient Origins of Expressive Self-Portraiture:

                Paleolithic Period:                “The Well Scene” at Lascaux, c. 15,000 BCE

Expressive Portraiture in the Service of Power:

                Ancient Egypt:                     The Great Sphinx, c. 2550 BCE;  Temple of Ramses II, c. 1257 BCE

                Ancient Rome:                      Augustus of Primaporta, c. 1st century AD

                19th Century France:           Napoleon Bonaparte, 1802

                Nazi Germany:                       Portrait of a Leader, 1937

                Benin, Africa:                        Oba (King) Head, c. 1750;  General & His Officers, c. 1600

Expressive Self-Portraiture in the Modern World:

                Picasso, Self-Portrait, 1938

                Modern World Masks:

Inuit (Eskimo) Seal Mask, Efut Antelope Mask, Dogon of Mali Dama Masks

                Expressive Self-Portraiture of Frida Kahlo (1910-54):

                                Frida & Deigo (1931), S-P w/Thorn Necklace & Hummingbirds (1940), TheWounded Deer (1946)

Postmodern Expressive Self-Portraiture:

                Cindy Sherman: Film Still (1979), Untitled (Judith) (c.1985), Untitled (Bacchus) (c.1985)

                Morimura Yasumasa:

                                Pschoborgs (1994), Actresses Series (1995), White Marilyn (1996), S-P After Vivian Leigh (1996)

                Orlan:    Saint Orlan (1983), Imaginary Generic (1990), Cruciform Photomontage (nd),

Self-Portrait as Bride of Frankenstein (1990)

                Jimmie Durham: Self-Portrait (as “Wooden Indian”), 1986 (mixed media assemblage)

                Betye Saar: The Liberation of Aunt Jemima, 1972 (mixed media assemblage)

                David Hammons: Making Body Prints, 1973 & body print examples

                Kristine Yuki Aono: Issei, Nisei, Sansie, 1990 (installation art)

                Soo-ja Kim: Un-Wrapping the Bundle, 1994 (process art)

                Ben Vautier: Living Sculpture (Festival of Misfits), 1962 (living art)

                Fluxus Group: Fluxkit, 1966 (game)

                Joseph Cornell: Portrait of Cleopatra Merode (nd), mixed media

                Tony Ousler: Submerged, 1996 (video projection on water-filled glass box)

 

 

 

 

 

Practical Suggestions & Advice for Your Project Assignment:

 

START your Project NOW by:

1. SCAVENGING: Start collecting odd scraps and items for your project.

2. SELF-ANALYSIS: Keep a list of descriptive words and phrases about your personality.

3. PLANNING: Plan your self-portrait by thinking about ways to express your personality abstractly.

 

THINK ABOUT creative ways to express your personality, such as:

SHAPE: Archetypal Shapes can be used abstractly to express your inner self.  There are 5 archetypal shapes:

                1. SQUARE: Expresses stability, practical realism, down-to-earth personality

                2. CIRCLE: Expresses unity and wholeness, spirituality and centered-ness

3. CROSS: NOT a Christian cross!  The archetypal cross expresses “the crossroads,” a time of difficult

decisions and hard choices

                4. TRIANGLE: Expresses relationships with others, achieving a balance in all the parts of your life

                5. SPIRAL: The only archetypal shape that is found in nature--expresses growth and change (emotional,

spiritual, intellectual, etc--a popular shape for college students!)

LINE: Line can be used abstractly for expressive purposes.  Both type and direction of lines have meanings:

                DIRECTIONS:       VERTICAL: steady, stable, at ease but ready for action

                                                HORIZONTAL: passive, sleepy, dead, unprepared--not realizing potential

                                                DIAGONAL: active and dynamic, on the go, exciting, dramatic, emotional

                LINE TYPES:         STRAIGHT & EVEN: dependable but a little boring

                                                CURVY & SINUOUS: sensuous, erotic, artistic

                                                JAGGED & BROKEN: chaotic, angry, suffering, on-the-edge

                                                STACCATTO:  nervousness & boredom, irritating

DIMENSIONALITY: The dimension that you choose to work in can also express your personality:

                2-DIMENSIONAL: Flat personality, not much depth, superficial

                3-DIMENSIONAL: Complex personality

                FRACTAL DIMENSIONS (has inside as well as outside): Very complex personality, not everything is

obvious on the surface, it takes a while to get to know “the real you,” which you do NOT share

with everyone

                4-DIMENSIONAL: Incorporates the element of TIME (ie, with moving parts or interactivity, etc)

RELATIVE TRANSLUCENCY (surface quality):

                TRANSPARENT (glass): easy to “see through,” you don’t hide your emotions

                OPAQUE (leather): hard to read, you often hide your true feelings and thoughts

                REFLECTIVE (mirror): you reflect the world around you, if others are happy so are you, etc

TEXTURE:  The textures of the materials that you use in your Self-Portrait can express so MUCH about your

personality!  What do these textures suggest to YOU?: 

ROUGH (stone)

ABRASIVE (sandpaper)

SHARP & JAGGED (broken glass, barbed wire)

WARM & FUZZY (fur or felt)

SOFT & DRAPEY (fabrics)

SQUISHY & PLIABLE (fat, wet clay, vegetable shortening)

STICKY (bubble gum)

 

HELPFUL HINTS:

In my experience, students who have done the best and who have enjoyed this project the most are those who do abstract assemblage self-portraits using found materials.  Remember that all art requires adequate materials, so it’s important to start scavenging NOW!  Also, all art requires planning and decision-making.  Think carefully about the above elements and how you can use them to express yourself in an abstract and creative way.  Also, it’s important to enjoy your work--for this to happen you must give yourself time.  Don’t wait until the last minute to start your project.  The earlier you start, the more you will enjoy your work.  Time spent will show in your finished self-portrait.

 

 

“Practical Advice” (see Hand-Out) Slide List

 

REVIEW:

Joseph Cornell: Portrait of Cleopatra Merode (nd), mixed media

                Tony Ousler: Submerged, 1996 (video projection on water-filled glass box)

SHAPE:

                SQUARE:              Joseph Albers, Momento (1964)

                CIRCLE: Katharina Fritsch, Child with Poodles (1996)

                MIXED:                 Annette Messager, My Wishes (c. 1990); Frank Stella, Hatra II (1968)

                CROSS:                  Andres Serrano, Blood Cross (1985); Yoko Ono, Video #64 (still, 1965)

                TRIANGLE:           Kenneth Noland, Bridge (c. 1960)

                SPIRAL: Fractal Geometry: “Mandlebrot Set”, Andy Goldsworthy, Spiral (c. 1980)

LINE (ways to draw one):

                Barnett Newman, Vir heroicus Sublimis (1950): “zip” painting

                Nam June Paik: Zen for Head (1962), Zen for TV (1975), Violin with String (1975): Fluxux

                Jackson Pollock: in action, Blue Poles (1953): “Action Painting”

                Walter De Maria, Lightning Field (1971-77): Earth Art

DIMENSIONALITY:

                3-D: Elsworth Kelly, Red, Blue, Green, Yellow (1965)

                FRACTAL DIMENSIONS: Joseph Cornell, Untitled (nd)

                4th DIMENSION (time): Cornell; Man Ray, Indestructible Object (1958); David Hockney, Scrabble(1983)

RELATIVE TRANSLUCENCY (surface quality):

                TRANSPARENT: Marcel Duchamp, “The Large Glass” (1915-23)

                OPAQUE: Marcel Duchamp (as Rrrose Selavey), Fresh Window (1920)

                REFLECTIVE: Jeff Koons, Rabbit (1986)

TEXTURE:

                Ay-o, Finger Box (1964)

                Louise Bourgeois, Nature Study (1984)

                Marcel Duchamp, Bottle Rack (1914)

                Meret Oppenheim, Luncheon in the Fur (1936)

                Annette Messager, Penetration (1994)

                Joseph Beuys, Fat Chair (1964)

                Charles Long, Bubble Gum Station (1995)

                Jesica Stockhold, Recording Forever Pickled (1995)