Today, we will take a deep look at ourselves and create an abstract self-portrait made up of many pieces. A self-portrait is defined as a drawing, painting, or picture of yourself, usually your face. We are going to collect items, draw and paint images, and assemble an abstract self-portrait that represents you in a variety of ways.
Collection Connection
Let’s look at this work by Abraham Cruzvillegas, titled Blind Self Portrait . . . (2017). Cruzvillegas calls his piece a self-portrait, or autoconstrucción, although it does not represent his face. His artwork is made up of a collection of meaningful objects found around his home and community in Mexico City. He is thinking abstractly, as an artist, about how many different pieces of his life may be assembled to represent himself in a non-pictorial way.
Cruzvillegas used the following materials: acrylic paint on newspaper clippings, cardboard, photographs, drawings, postcards, envelopes, tickets, vouchers, letters, posters, flyers, cards, recipes, napkins, and steel pins on wall.
Materials
- Collected materials, such as ticket stubs, flyers, old photographs
- Sketch paper
- Pencil
- Mirror
- Watercolor paper
- Watercolor paints
- Paintbrushes
- Water
- Scissors
- Glue
Questions to Consider
- How do I represent myself?
- How do I appear to others?
- How can I represent myself abstractly, as an artist?
Steps 1. Collect materials from around your house that you might add to your self-portrait collage. You may also use any leftover paper from your Paper. Is. So. Not. Boring project. Review Cruzvillegas’s materials above to get some ideas. Gather any items that you have permission to use for your art.
