Self Divided Self:
Cut and combined paintings
of strangers’ selfies, self-portraits, and guys I’ve met
from social media and dating sites
by Jeff Stevenson
The Process: These artworks challenge the viewer by simultaneously presenting two portraits that are interrupting each other; while our minds naturally seek to fill in what’s not there to complete the images, we cannot hold either image in its entirety.
The fractured portraits conceal aspects of the faces and therefor aspects of the identities of those being represented. These paintings connote our human desire to reveal ourselves and conversely to hide. But more than that they depict how our instincts urge us to exit the present moment (as meditation and mindfulness practitioners can attest) – our divided attention takes us to our phones or some other device, or distracts us with our own thoughts.
I find that making paintings from selfies is particularly contemporary, taking disposable images and ensconcing them in the tradition of oil portrait painting, building a bridge between our current era of ephemeral digital proliferation and our rich Art History.
I began by collecting and painting strangers’ selfies that showed evidence of certain characteristics and moments. When we are alone, taking our own picture in front of a computer screen, a mirror, or with our phone, it is a solitary, non-social behavior. As we craft our online profile, cultivating an image of ourselves to present to others, it is often done in solitude.
The Divided Self: What our online profiles are about — the curated, public self, versus the authentic, or at least private, self. The work speaks to the anxiety that the self-as-curated-persona creates: the anxiety of not just projecting a ‘self’ that matches how we see ourselves in public, but also one that doesn’t betray our authentic, private self.
This is particularly poignant in the online dating realm. How do we craft this presented self that, if things go well, will seamlessly transition to the authentic, private self?
We showcase ourselves in the hopes of attracting someone, but we can’t be too ‘crafted’ or the whole game is lost. The rise of social media has in some ways led to a crisis of identity.
The personal is political and speaks to the universal human experience of identity, belonging, and being an individual within a group. Although my paintings are highly personal they also connect to a collective consciousness, the idea that we are all in this together.