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Self-replicating Self-portraits

Vanessa Jones

I am a figurative painter whose practice explores themes around the feminine as it relates to the ubiquitous iconography of the woman across time. My work conjures ancient and historical associations – primordial, archaic, medieval – throughout which the feminine is firmly rooted and immovable.

My paintings inhabit familiar yet unknown landscapes, dreamlike worlds based in reality, that are embedded in cultural symbolism. I work representationally, primarily in oil on canvas, using traditional techniques. I use self-portraiture as a vehicle for self-replication as it reinforces a ritualistic human need to see ourselves again and again. By representing symbols of the feminine through self-portraiture, I am able to see paradoxical ideas that exist within myself and the world at large. I can create an unreal believability. I can shapeshift through my paintings. I can co-exist in contradictory meanings and spaces.

Bardot Hat (self-portrait), 2021. Oil on linen, 50 x 60cm

Bardot Hat (self-portrait), 2021. Oil on linen, 50 x 60cm

Bari Rock (self-portrait), 2021. Oil on canvas, 120 x 90cm

Bari Rock (self-portrait), 2021. Oil on canvas, 120 x 90cm

Twins (self-portrait), 2021. Oil on canvas, 100 x 70cm

Twins (self-portrait), 2021. Oil on canvas, 100 x 70cm

HoMi Hand Plow (self-portrait), 2020. Oil on canvas, 100 x 70cm

HoMi Hand Plow (self-portrait), 2020. Oil on canvas, 100 x 70cm

Snail Shells (Self-portrait), 2020. Oil on canvas, 50 x 40cm

Snail Shells (Self-portrait), 2020. Oil on canvas, 50 x 40cm

Cabbage Baby (self-portrait), 2021. Oil on linen, 80 x 60cm

Cabbage Baby (self-portrait), 2021. Oil on linen, 80 x 60cm

Studio Installation

Studio Installation

Research

Prairie Night, unfinished process images

Prairie Night, unfinished process images

Bowmen, unfinished process image

Bowmen, unfinished process image

Drawings and Research

Drawings and Research

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  • MFA in Fine Art