Self Portrait (Trees on Heights)
Medium: Oil on Canvas (20”x20”)
Date: c. 2008
A self portrait made in 2008 from a photograph taken in 2006 on Bolivar Heights in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
The image was not conceived as a self-portrait in the traditional sense. The original photographs were taken as part of a larger set (an exploration of figure, setting, and composition, taken by Stephen Parberry) where I was the available subject. The painting itself was produced during a period focused on exploring medium and first beginning to explore self in relation to image. It exists somewhere between representation and distance, an early instance of placing myself within an image without yet having the capacity to fully recognize or interpret that presence.
The composition remains largely faithful to the original scene. The structure of the trees, the slope of the land, and the orientation of the figure were not significantly altered.
At a glance, the work reads as a composed landscape with a seated figure. The image feels arranged, somewhat distant, something constructed and contained. And yet, it holds a secondary layer for me that was not fully accessible at the time it was made.
This location, and variations of this subject and composition, appear repeatedly across my work over many years. Seen in retrospect, this piece sits earlier in that unfolding, before the experiences that would later give these forms a more explicit meaning. What is present here is not yet articulated, but it is already embedded.
Process Notes:
This painting was created in oil on canvas (16 × 20 in.), based on a photographic reference taken in 2006.
During this period, I was developing a practice of making my own oil paints from raw pigment. Portions of the paint used in this work were handmade as part of that process.
Related Images:
Although the original photoshoot is currently lost in the archive (it was shot on film and printed), I did surface one photograph taken that day (by Stephen Parberry) dated November 9, 2006. I also located a shot of this painting in-process, which looks to be about ¾ finished.
