My Delusions of Grandeur
Let me start off by saying that I've always had a deep admiration for the legendary Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe. I mean, who wouldn't want to look like a goddess, right? So, when I heard about the self-portrait prize, I thought, "Hey, why not give it a shot? I could finally show the world what I look like as Marilyn Monroe."
Well, let's just say that things didn't exactly go as planned. My first attempt at painting myself was an absolute disaster. I quickly realized that my skills were not quite up to par with my delusions. Instead of resembling the beauty and grace of Marilyn Monroe, I ended up looking like a twisted version of Marilyn Manson. I'm sure you can imagine the horror. I had to burn the canvas.
In the end, I decided to embrace the abstract and painted myself in a cubist style. I figured, if I can't paint like Rembrandt, I might as well go for something a little more avant-garde. And who knows, maybe the judges will appreciate my unique approach to self-portraiture.
So, that's the story of my journey to the self-portrait competition. Will I win? Who knows. Will my painting be a masterpiece? Probably not. But one thing is for sure, I'll always have my delusions of grandeur to keep me company. And maybe someday I'll actually become the legendary artist I see myself as. But until then, I'll just keep painting and dreaming, one cubist self-portrait at a time.
THE SELF-PORTRAIT PRIZE 2023 Victoria’s Entry
The boring bit. Artist statement.
As an artist, my goal has always been to explore the complexities of the human psyche and the various facets of the self. With my entry into the self-portrait prize, I aim to showcase my own delusional grandeur of myself through the lens of cubism.
Cubism, with its fragmented and multi-perspective representation, perfectly embodies conflicting aspects of the self. My self-portrait serves as a commentary on the unrealistic and idealized versions of oneself that we construct and hold onto, despite the reality being far from it. The distorted and exaggerated features in the portrait capture the distorted reality that the mind creates, emphasizing the disconnect between the perception of self and the actual self.
The use of bold colours and jagged lines in my piece reflects the chaos and confusion that often characterizes our thoughts and emotions. The fragmented representation of the face is a symbol of the nature of our personalities and the multiple identities we adopt to fit in with different circumstances and relationships.
In conclusion, my self-portrait is a visual representation of the internal struggles and complexities of the self, and an exploration of the unrealistic expectations that we place upon ourselves.
Stay tuned for the results!