Lucy Jones
The vibrant colours used for the self-portrait Lucy Jones reflect the artist’s training in colour theory. Unusual for a self-portrait, the cobalt blue hair paired with cardinal red reflects the artist’s own interest in maintaining tonal intensity. Character is conveyed through the direct and glaring stare of the artist. Jones’ impairment has necessitated her use of a frame to support her to walk and stand upright. Self-portraiture serves as an opportunity to ‘reverse the gaze’ – staring back at passers-by who fixate on her visible disability.
The setting for the self-portrait is split into two through contrasting colour, to suggest a shift of plane from wall-to-wall, or from wall-to-door. In this space, the subject is depicted in greater intensity, open for the psychological scrutiny of the viewer. Alternatively, the split background could suggest her self-portraits ‘coming together’, itself a reconciliation with the incremental and often frustratingly slow process of painting. She describes how ‘the making of a self-portrait, if undertaken seriously, is an oddly testing experience, not in any technical way, but psychologically. It pulls one all ways, turning in on oneself self-consciously even while that dispassionate scrutiny supervenes’.