Week Nine - The Image as Self: The Portrait as Individual

Self portraits
This is one of my favourite portraits. It was created by Marc Quinn and is made from the artists' own blood along with liquid silicone, glass, perspex, stainless steel and refrigeration equipment. It was created in 2006 and measures 2050 mm x 650 mm x 650mm. He took several pints of his own blood over time, froze it and cast his head in it. Marc Quinn described it as a 'frozen moment on life support'. He creates a new version of this every five years. I really love the delicateness of this piece and how it looks as if he is holding his breath, trying not to break it. The way the shadows reflect all around the head are really powerful, as if the eyes are going to open. It is a very unique thing to do and I feel if you go crazy with something and dare to do something mad then you will be seen for it and hopefully in a good way.




Being self critical
In order to understand the work that is created by yourself, you must understand yourself as an artist/illustrator and as a person. You must know where you have went wrong and be able to admit your mistakes. You must know when you have done something right and be able to praise yourself for it. When viewing other artist's work an illustrator should not hold back on critique if they feel it will encourage a better outcome, not to sound nasty but to help them better their work.

Figures
Figure 1 - Self by Marc Quinn

References.
http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw138260/Marc-Quinn-Self