Artist "Selfies"

The mirror, above all, the mirror is our teacher. 

~Leonardo da Vinci ~

Anna Feldhusen self-portrait 1899

From the Art Gallery of Ontario:

"Since the invention of the glass mirror in the 1500s artists have been scrutinizing and recording their own reflections. In self-portraiture the artist is both maker and model, and the distinctions between observer and observed break down. Like an autobiography, which can range from the informative to the fabricated, a self-portrait provides clues that reveal the artist’s identity (or identities). Through pose, facial expression, setting, costume, and stylistic presentation the artist “signs” his or her work."

 Nearly every artist, in every medium from painters to sculptors has attempted this exploration of self. I decided to review my art journals and note my numerous self-portraits over the years:

Artist: Cindi Moynahan-Foreman

Of course there are many many more. What clues do my self-portraits reveal about me?

I found such a variety in my self-portraits: with and without my glasses, happy, sad, confused, contemplative, alone, with my beloved, with my dog and in collages like the one for my 55th birthday (called "double nickels") or the timeline piece with the quote "You never know when you're making a memory" (from a Rickie Lee Jones song).

I love finding and reading about other artists self-portraits.

In the Guardian, the book review for James Hall's history of self-portraits offers this clarification between “selfies" (which the Oxford dictionary named word of the year for 2013) and artist’s self-portraits which he explains are “exercises in self-appraisal, not self-celebrations”.

I like that distinction.

Artist: Cindi Moynahan-Foreman

Artist: Cindi Moynahan-Foreman

Interesting links on the subject of self-portraits:

• The Artist in the Mirror http://www.theartwolf.com/self-portraits/10-self-portraits.htm
• Research on Self-Portraits http://userpages.umbc.edu/~ivy/selfportrait/intro.html