McCully & Crane, 27 Cinque Ports St, Rye, TN31 7AD
Pharmakon, oil on linen, 25.5x30cm, 2021
I have painted self-portraits since I was at school.The popular excuse given by artists in reply to the question of why do you paint so many is: “I’m always here”. There is certainly some truth in that, especially at 6 in the morning. But the reality is there is nothing more intense than studying your own reflection and attempting to translate it into paint. No doubt I am searching for some answers, or maybe just clues about myself.
More recently the self-portraits have become once-removed from reality, often painted without reference to a mirror. Frequently titled with the precursor ‘The Artist...’, there is an aspect of self-mocking and warm(ish) characterisation about these works.
Lockdown reduced the possibility of other models or subjects to paint and with it, for me, a calmness in the isolation. The beard got longer, the tan deeper, the focus stronger.
