I You She Him They We Them

from our earliest drawings we express our view of ourselves and others in creative ways, any child with a mark maker will represent figures, very often in scale, parent, child.

later on as an artist every creation is an expression of identity, their presence is in every brush stroke, every creative decision even if little is know of the artist and their time.

some creators choose to make themselves the center of their work, their life and their art intersect into a blurry whole. Gilbert and George’s life, work, home and creations are presented as a complete challenging expression.

self portraiture is the clearest expression of the artists view of them selves, hiding behind a camera, gazing at his wifes forbidden body ,a massive (9ft) uncompromising image.

Brian Charnley’s record of his schizophrenia , Van Gogh’s tortured self portrait, Scheil’s sad self are more poignant and honest self expressions

Picasso’s self portraits at sixteen and seventy nine, art history in a life time. The honesty of the young uneasy adolescent and the adult facing mortality.

Helene Schjerbeck’s life through sellf portraits. A Finish Swedish artist, her artistic journey to herfinal striking death bed composition

Claude Cahun exploring their gender and identity in strikingly modern self portraits from the 1920’s

Judith Leyster’s 16th century self portrait, a stunningly confident self view

Vivian Maier, a reclusive professional nanny sees herself in shadows and reflections

Mobile phone cameras make self portraiture possible for everyone, everywhere, expressive or delusional