Big Self-Portrait 2003

Curator: Welcome. Here we have Robert Qualters' "Big Self-Portrait," crafted in 2003 using mixed media. Editor: It strikes me immediately as… fractured. The entire composition seems to be constructed of countless tiny squares, lending this somewhat traditional genre of portraiture a surprisingly unsettling energy. Curator: Yes, the grid-like structure certainly breaks down conventional notions of the self. The fragmented nature hints at the multifaceted, ever-evolving concept of identity. Note the repeating motif of what appears to be Qualters himself represented at different ages and presumably states of mind. The images are mediated through Qualters’ cultural context and the formal concerns of painting as a medium. Editor: Precisely! The artist even presents various iterations of himself. And do you see the dominant use of grey, blue and brown shades and geometric motifs to further fragment his visage? It almost feels like looking at the shards of a broken mirror, but each shard containing its own little reflection of a bigger picture. The image in the central register almost emerges out of the grid work—a powerful use of figure/ground relations. Curator: Observe, too, the presence of the walking stick which seems like a reference to his mature age. And notice the figure of the leaping deer in the background. Might that be some type of avatar or an allusion to nature or wildness, both in tension and harmony with the controlled geometric planes? This visual language of symbols, forms and archetypes are the ingredients for something larger and deeper in our psyches and civilization. Editor: What a masterful, multi-layered manipulation of materials! It creates an illusion of depth despite its flatness. The artist has expertly deployed color, and created a wonderful semiotic tension—or maybe visual polyphony is more accurate. But yes, it all circles back to you in surprising ways. I wonder what message each person takes away from the painting… Curator: Indeed. An introspective maze made for public reflection.