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Self-portrait as mask. The case study of Gillian Wearing
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Department of Humanities, Roma Tre University, Rome,
Italy
AC, 3385 https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.3385
Submitted: 8 April 2024 | Accepted: 25 June 2024 | Published: 24 October 2024
© 2024 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract
This article examines Gillian Wearing’s Family Album photographic series (2003 – 2006), relating her self-portraits to the postmodern identity theories of Fredric Jameson (1984) and Kenneth Gergen (1991) for the 1st time, as well as linking them to Hans Belting’s interpretation of the symbolism of the mask (2013). In the photographs, Wearing assumes the features of her family members through hyper-realistic masks and wigs, recreating and “wearing” the faces from the family albums. Through this process, the artist temporarily assumes the identity of another person while creating a new subject that combines and adds further characteristics to the personalities from which it is composed. The photographs from the series are compared with other works by the artist, particularly her self-portraits painted during the 2020 lockdown and those created in 2023, in which she portrays herself without a mask, marking a significant shift in her artistic practice.
Keywords
Self-portrait
Mask
Postmodern identity
Postmodern theory
Contemporary art
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The author declares no conflict of interest.
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