I'm Here.

I drew inspiration for my self-portrait from Mickalene Thomas and Cindy Sherman's artwork. I first looked at the different subjects the artists used. Mickalene used other people who she could see herself in, the article, "Mickalene Thomas: I Can't See You Without Me," notes how the representation of women of color should be celebrated and seen more, because it is not as prominent as others. This spoke to me because seeing her work helped me to see the beauty in the black form, more so, and gave me comfort knowing someone was out there representing me. 
On the other hand Cindy Sherman's work was more directed on herself as her subject, she saw herself because she was the art. In the article, "The Cindy Sherman Effect," it states, "A number of younger artists are very much indebted to Sherman in their exploration of not just identity but also the nature of representation." This sat with me because I myself used Cindy's way with my portrait and my own take on identity. In the documentary we watched in class it spoke on how Sherman showed what we may never see, alienation, imagination, and even with the title of film "Nobody's Here But Me," it is very telling of who is the center of her art. 
I implemented these different women into my picture with these ideas in mind when I chose to wear red lipstick, bright as Thomas would have her subjects with a purple bow and colored eyeshadow. I wanted myself to be bold and pop, the lipstick is smeared across my face in reference to Sherman and the need for me to alienate myself from the typical put together look, because I feel mangled and distressed and even when I feel beautiful I feel out of place. Sherman spoke on how she was interested in saggy breasts and the true human form and with that I tried to hunch and hold myself more in an awkward pose to see how that made me feel as the subject to my portrait. All in all, this is my self-portrait for the week. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXKNuWtXZ_U