Self-Portraits
















SELF-PORTRAITS
by Shane Guffogg
When I first started making self-portraits, I was literally sitting in front of a mirror and documenting what I saw. I tried on different artistic styles like a person trying on new clothes to see what fits.
As I entered early adulthood, the idea of earning a living by making art was looming over the horizon. The self-portraits shifted from visual observation to an emotional investigation using neo expressionism as my landscape.
In 1988, the world as I knew it shifted. Again, I needed to sit in front of a mirror so that I could comprehend what had transpired, and who I had become.
As the world became louder in 2018, I felt an unyielding need to retreat, and protect myself. It was then I began what I now refer to as my mask series, which are in essence, portraits of my psyche.
All the portraits are autobiographical. Each one has aided my ability, and willingness to come to terms with life, and comprehend what it was, is, and may be.
- Shane Guffogg