Flo, aged 17
Acrylic paint on canvas board
What most sticks out to me about Vincent van Gogh’s self-portrait is the idea of a new beginning. The canvas in the background paired with his confident gaze towards the viewer creates a strong feeling of resilience and hope and shows this may be a turning point in Van Gogh’s story.
I wanted to subvert this idea and explore the opposite. Replacing the almost-blank canvas are several completed paintings of mine, showing myself stuck in the past. I gave myself a more timid, sorrowful expression to further the juxtaposition against the original. I find myself inspired by Van Gogh’s use of colour. In this painting I exaggerated every value and kept every colour blocky and unblended, leaving areas loosely painted so that the toned canvas shows through.