The Best of Yourself

Video Exhibition

Artists explore the concept of self-portrait without the use of their actual physical image. The underlying theme would be "The Best of Yourself” The work can speak of the artist’s whole self or an aspect of their personality, being or personal philosophy. It cannot in any way represent their physical being or any part of the body. Part of the submission would be what they write about the work which would be published alongside the work. 

 For example, Unencumbered, shown below, is a self portrait because of its meaning. I did not create it as a self portrait, but when I was explaining the process of it’s creation to a collector, it was reflected back to me that it was indeed a portrait of myself, my best self, my strongest self… the person I actually am rather that what I look like.

Curator’s Notes:

          I created an exhibition that gave non-portraiture artists an opportunity to share who they are through beautiful art with powerful meaning. The artists who applied certainly fulfilled that criteria. Additionally and unexpectedly, what the artists also gave me was a renewed sense of one-ness and hope for the human experience.

           As I was considering which works to include in this unique exhibition, Self Portrait: The Best of Myself, I was struck with the uniformity of the human experience through the many entries. Artists from all over the globe applied and their expressions of self, were of course unique to their circumstances, but also uniform with the human experience. Even as our world is torn with war, recovering from a pandemic, and experiencing a host of other natural and manmade catastrophies, humans are resilient and can see the beauty in themselves and the value in their existence. I believe when a person can see beauty and value in themselves they can also see beauty and value in others. Perhaps this is what will heal our world.

           It is my wish that viewers of this exhibition take a moment to consider what each artist is sharing about themselves, with the world. Is there a chord that rings true for you?

Exhibition Curator Kat Warwick

 

Unencumbered

Optimism Eternal