I made these portraits with my eyes closed.
Okay, once or twice I let them open slightly, soft focus, so I could make sure my pencil was still on the page. But the process was the same for each: I taped the paper to the table, then one hand held the pencil while the other explored my face. I picked a starting point, but after that, the line went where it wanted to. Because I couldn’t see what was happening, I couldn’t control anything or make the images look more like me. And really, that was the whole point.
The result is a series of eight self-portraits I’m calling Uncorrected Proof—a title I stole from my old life as an editor. An uncorrected proof is an early copy of a book, printed before anyone’s had a chance to fix the typos. It’s a draft still catching up to itself. With all the changes in my life, I’ve been feeling a lot like that myself.
None of the eight look much like me. None of them look very much like each other. But two of them are now hanging in an art exhibit, which is a sentence I did not expect to write this year.
Uncorrected Proof (Watermark)—shown at the top of this post—and Uncorrected Proof (Illuminated)—just below—were accepted into “Lines and Layers,” a juried multi-media exhibition at the historic Falkirk Cultural Center in San Rafael.
It’s late notice for the reception, but if you’re local, I hope you’ll swing by and check out all the Bay Area artists’ work on display.
Opening Reception
Friday, September 11, 5:00 – 7:30pm
Falkirk Cultural Center
1408 Mission Avenue, San Rafael
“Lines and Layers” features 67 artists from the nine Bay Area counties across multiple galleries in the old mansion, working in everything from painting to photography to sculpture to mixed media—so there will be a lot to see!
The show runs through October 23, with gallery hours Tuesday-Friday from 1:00 – 4:30 p.m., if you’d rather visit on a quiet afternoon.
If you can’t make it in person or want to meet the other six, all eight are in a gallery on my website. Each piece is available for purchase, and each is so quirky that it wouldn’t be like hanging a portrait of me in your house. One of the reasons I love this series is that the subject could be anyone.
Here’s another in the series. Not in the show, but I like her—Uncorrected Proof (Off Register) aka Wall Eye.
