After a discussion about self portraiture, my student began to draw her first self portrait. We talked about how we are the only ones who see ourselves as we do in a mirror, and because of the element of time, each portrait an artist draws or paints brings out an array of characters and emotion.
Seeing deeply, which is her stated goal, we meet parts of ourselves. At least that’s how it is for me and was for her.
My student suggested to ask interested patrons, “What is the caption for one of the self-portraits?” out of curiosity.
Self Portraits 1968-2019, Kathleen O’Brien
As I gaze at the self-portrait images from my archives, I have to ask who am I?
Why was I drawn to make a portrait of myself at that time?
Can I reach back in time to that feeling, the circumstances?
I certainly could write stories as if I were an observer. Are you? What caption would you write? I am asking…
Shown are the ones I could find presented chronologically from 1968. Most of them are drawings (graphite, ink, colored pencils) on paper. Two are oil paintings, and one sculpture.
# 2 sitting crosslegged on floor I would caption “Idealist” I don’t know why.
I’ve been doing self portraits along the way. Some of the titles I used make sense now in hindsight. This is an awesome collage of yours
good caption, Kathryn, I certainly was idealistic at age 22! I still am. Thanks for seeing me.
#2 sitting on the floor I would title “idealist”