This painting is one of approximately two hundred self-portraits I have completed since I began teaching myself to paint in 2021.
The reference photograph was taken in early 2024 in the upstairs bathroom of a share-house in Coburg, that was demolished later that year.
I like the way the light was hitting and hiding half my face, the boldness of my endlessly worn red sweater, and in particular, a gaze which holds a combination of emotions simultaneously.
I am a self-taught painter working primarily in oil, with a practice centered on self-portraiture painted from life. Since beginning teaching myself to paint in 2021, I have completed over two hundred self-portraits. My work operates as an autobiographical archive, documenting personal experiences and psychological inner worlds.
I draw stylistic inspiration from early 20th-century artists like Tora Vega Holmström, Paula Modersohn-Becker, and Mela Muter. Thematically, my work connects to the direct, emotional honesty found in the work of Egon Schiele, Alice Neel, Edvard Munch, and Tracey Emin. I use the physical act of painting to track the subtle, shifting realities of identity and internal emotion over time.
