Engaging in self-portraiture calls for a permanent state of critical reflection about the effects and affects of displaying one’s own image. It is a complex business, the era of selfies being one of fragmentation, misunderstandings, and the quest for external validation. But the artistic interest in this practice often comes from the search for one’s ego, the essence of their soul, or the revelation of their multiple personas.
In self-portraiture, the self who sees crosses with the self who is seen, creating a third entity that defies classic distinctions between representation and performativity. This hybrid being queers the notion of self and other, complicating distinctions between subject and object, observer and observed, now and then. Materializing a relational understanding of self, queer self-portraiture allows for the multiplicity within an individual to reverberate in their surroundings.
Abdicating the idea of purity both in fantasy and in reality, these five artists unveil versions of their potential selves through photography, painting, and video. Here, the medium is precisely that: an intermediate of false separation between one and several. Sharing traces of their authored existences, these artists generously help us find ourselves with the guidance of their works.
Curated by Renata Azevedo Moreira