This self-portrait is inspired by one of my favorite artists, Egon Schiele. I love the way he portrays form and makes all of his subjects look “spindly.” Recently, I’ve had a weird obsession with spines and wanted to take a picture where my spine was protruding. I was also hoping to capture the rawness of photographer Francesca Woodman’s self-portraits. The photo was taken outside on my roof just before sunset, at the end of September 2019. The picture’s cool monochromatic tones hide the fact that it was very warm out.
When I first approached this, I started to map out up-close pictures of things like a lock of hair, an earring, etc. to capture the physical traces I leave behind. As I thought more about it I decided to use photos that were already taken. The first panel is a picture I took of the drain in my shower with my hair stuck in it, the second is a picture I took of a hickey I gave someone, the third graffiti I did, the fourth is a photo someone sent me of my earring back I lost in their room, the fifth is a photo I took of my lipstick left on a cup of coffee, the final photo I took of a tissue after I had a bloody nose. By using photos that already existed it connected to the idea that we are not conscious of the traces we leave behind, physical and non-physical. Whether we like it or not we remain in spaces and lives our bodies are no longer in.
This photo opportunity presented itself along the East River at Pier 42 on one of the hottest muggiest days of July 2019. A person was sunbathing in solitude on a cement lot encased by fencing. I went around the fence to get the shot
I quickly captured this in the evening after getting back from a long day touring in Florence during spring break 2019. My friend is reaching for her journal to write in before she falls asleep. On the outskirts of Florence, the hotel looked like it was frozen in the 1970s. I was glad to have captured its vintage feeling.
