With lots of time in my studio awaiting a somewhat normal world to return to, I have had a lot of time to be creative and look back at projects I have done in the past. Projects that often get put into boxes rarely seeing the light of day. In 2014 such a project was born when I decided to turn the camera onto myself—something I had not done in years. My last attempt at self-portrait work was over 25 years ago when I was a Cooper Union student. That I can get more into later because I just had a roll of film developed, yes I said a roll of film and on it, self-portraits. But I digress. At a time, artists were the only people making self-portraits; however, nowadays, we all, with a cellphone in hand, capture countless images of ourselves yet often never even consider what or why we wish to see ourselves in pictures.
My goal with this work was not to be narcissistic but instead to simply use my body as my subject. I attempt to see myself in existence with the world around me in these photographs. My image blends with time, place, body, shape, myself, and others, colors, and compositions, all together working to find a balance. I love that about art-making, it's a way to follow an idea, to play with creativity, and in the end achieve a goal.
I know now the only thing harder than turning the artists' gaze onto oneself is showing others the results.No one is ever satisfied with what they see in the mirror, myself included.
As I say in all my workshops at IN TOUCH MEN, feedback is key to growing. Please let me know what you all think of the new shop, the blog, and any ideas on workshops you wish to have at IN TOUCH MEN when we return.
A selection of this work will be available for purchase in the IN TOUCH MEN shop.
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