Who are you looking at?
An examination of self portraits
Is It Cause I’m a Virgo? 2024
Self-portraits hold a unique and profound place in the history of art, serving as both personal explorations and universal statements. For artists, creating a self-portrait is an introspective act that bridges their inner identity and outward expression. It allows them to confront questions of self-perception, legacy, and their relationship to the world around them. In figuration specifically, self-portraits offer a deeply human connection, as they rely on the physicality and presence of the artist's own form to communicate their ideas.
In Kaleigh Blevins current exhibition “Or Something” Blevins incorporates several self portraits which offer an inherently intimate look into who she is or how she wishes to be seen at a particular moment in time.
The practice of self portraiture has persisted in art for centuries, and often transcends mere representation. Through their portraits, artists can delve into psychological, emotional, and social dimensions of the self. In contemporary art, the definition of self-portraiture is ever expanding, incorporating ideas of fluid identity, alter egos, and even absence, as artists use their work to question the nature of self and representation.
Forever Slowly Approaches, 2024
Blevins’s approach often involves utilizing her physical form as both subject and medium, using her body and face as tools to evoke emotion, provoke introspection, and question societal or social rules. For her, the deliberate use of her image allows her to explore themes of fragility, resilience, and the ways in which external forces shape internal realities. Her art often feels raw and melancholy, creating a profound connection between the artist and the viewer. By situating herself within her work, Blevins not only asserts agency over her own representation but amplifies it’s emotional resonance making her a compelling contribution to contemporary figuration.
You Can’t Just Fly On Off and Leave a Body, 2024
Through the intimacy of the figure and her color choices, Blevins creates space for the viewer to look past the autobiographical. She manages to transform her likeness into a lens through which viewers can contemplate their own perspectives on identity and the human experience. Through the use of blue as the primary skin tone of her subjects she takes this one step further, delving into the idea of vanishing…taking up space while not really being present.
Blevins exhibit challenges traditional notions of representation and identity. Rather than confining herself to the category of self-portraiture, she employs her likeness as a vehicle. In that respect, her work is poses questions to all of us. Are we fully present in our environments, in our experiences, in our lives? Or are we simply fading into the background? And whom exactly are we looking at?
“Or Something” is on view through December 28th.
The gallery is closed on December 26th and open December 27th and 28th from 12 - 6 PM.
Explore Artist’s Portraits
ASHLEY MARIE
I am the Door, 2024
Oil on canvas
36 x 18 inches
ANDRE BARKER
I, Andre, 2024
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 24 inches
CAILYN DAWSON
Get Away, 2024
Oil on canvas
45 x 43 inches
SCOTT VINCENT CAMPBELL
Self Portrait, 1, 2016
Industrial rubber cord, wood, latex paint
Height: Approximately 60 inches
BOWEN KLINE
Disorderly, 2023
Acrylic and oil on canvas
28 x 24 inches
TAURUS BURNS
You Don’t Know the Half, 2023
Oil on canvas
48 x 72 inches
RICHARD LEWIS
The Aging Boxer, 2024
Watercolor, pen and ink on paper
20 x 16 inches