Original artwork description:

This self portrait, drawn with fineliner pen, is a response to contemporary ‘selfie’ culture. During periods of isolation in the pandemic; we as a society have spent even more of our time on our phones than usual. This was to be expected and is not necessarily a negative. I noticed many people of a similar age to myself, posting an increased amount of pictures of themselves on social media with ostentatious items, conveying an image of opulence or even an image of optimal health.

Admittedly, I may be overly cynical with my views regarding this virtual curation and how this has become the norm, but I must admit that I too on occasion fall into this mindset; which is why I felt it apropos to make this work as we ease out of lockdown in the UK.

This figurative work critiques the vanity and conceit of taking pictures of oneself whilst exercising. I often question why we as young adults feel the urge to upload photos that we think present a ‘better’ version of ourselves to social media. Why do we feel the need for this external gratification and is it ever enough. The reference photo used was not uploaded to social media, though in all honesty I was tempted.

Materials used:

fineliner pen on antique text and textiles

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