Symbolic Self Portraits

• Thursday, Mar 28, 2024  6pm - 8pm Opening Reception
• Thu, Feb 8, 2024 - Sat, Apr 20, 2024  9am - 5pm On view

“… every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter. The sitter is merely the accident, the occasion. It is not they who are revealed by the painter; it is rather the painter who reveals himself/herself.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Portraiture dates back to ancient times. The motivation to capture a subject's likeness and personhood has many origins. There are many ways to view others, and in doing so we hope to understand more about ourselves and the human condition in general. The combinations of form, line, shapes, shadows, tones, expressions are endless, as infinite as the human body. And as new media and types of experiences develop, we form new ways to look at others and also to look at ourselves. We might find that one feels most accurately embodied as abstract shapes or gestural brushstrokes, rather than detailed simulation of actual facial features. Perhaps the emotions expressed by subject can not be fully illustrated by facial features, leading to interesting decisions in composition, use of the background, color, dimensionality, etc. 

For this exhibition, Symbolic Self-Portraits, artists from Sabine Street Studios were asked to create their own version of a self-portrait, and to consider how they might wish to be perceived. Join the artists on Thursday, March 28, from 6-8 pm to celebrate the opening of this exciting new exhibit! The show occupies the Corridor Galleries of Sabine Street Studios, and will be on view and open to the public, from 9-5 pm Monday through Saturday until April 20, 2024.