Llanura, aged 17
Paint and thread on cotton apron
Vincent van Gogh’s original self-portrait famously does not feature the ear, so here we are playing
with disjointing his work. Parts of the original painting are omitted, scaled inaccurately or
emphasised. Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear is all about what isn’t there, but my
artwork chooses to re-focus and remodel it as a portrait of self. Embroidery is used as ‘material
painterliness’, reflecting Van Gogh’s use of textured impasto paint. In the same way that narratives
around Van Gogh are muddy, unsure and obscured, Self-Portrait with the Ear mirrors the contemporary taste for an artist shrouded in myth and bandages; take what you want from it.