Self Portraits

BLOG#4

---Self Portraits---

A few nights ago, I was looking at my notes and I came across the Delacoix painting he did of himself (Self Portrait, 1827- below)



...and one thing hit me like a ton of bricks: why when we do a "self portait" of ourselves, do we all most always focus only on one part of us: the face? As I looked at the self portrait of Delacroix, I examined it slowly, and realized that this painting told me nothing about the man. Yes, I see the "Self" part, but I failed to see the "traits" part of him. And then, I started looking for self portraits of other artist I love, and realized the same thing: Self Portraits, are "Face" Portraits! Just look below:

LEONARDO DAVINCHI, Self Portrait:




GOYA, Self Portrait:



PABLO PICASSO: “Self-portrait”, 1901.



VINCENT VAN GOGH: “Self-portrait with bandaged ear”, January 1889



HENRI MATISSE, Self-Portrait in a Striped T-shirt 1906



FRIDA KAHLO, Self Portrait



DIEGO RIVERA. Self-Portrait Dedicated to Irene Rich 1941.



GUSTAV COURNET, “Self Portrait” or “The Desperate Man,”



ANDY WARHOL Self Portrait



SALVADOR DALI , Self Portrait:




VIK MUNIZ, Self Portrait



YOLY, My Self Portrait:



Why are we so obsessed with faces, and why do we choose to give our "face" so much power? Is our face our whole Identity? Is our entire sense of "self," as thin, and simple as the topical layer we call "our face?" I have been struggling with this question for the past few days, and have come to no real conclusion to my question. I guess, that when I take a self portrait of myself, I focus on my face almost every time, and it never hit me before that that, only shows one of the layers of who I am.. in a self por-trait I want people to see my traits, my talents, my life, my heart and soul, my self, my worth! I want people to see more than just the surface! The "face" can only show you I am a homosapien. You can Identify me as a species.. but my heart, is inside, and that is harder to show on canvas than a face. My mind, is more powerful than any image of my face, my heart is as deep as the wrinkles my face will one day show, and my soul could never fit on any size canvas. For THIS reason, a self portrait is now and forever will be a face portrait, no where close to a reflection of my "self." After this class, I will never look at a self portrait the same again.