Self-Portrait c. 1986s

Editor: So this is Saul Steinberg’s "Self-Portrait," created around 1986, just pen on paper. It's intriguing how simplified and almost diagrammatic it is. What kind of commentary do you think Steinberg is making through this rather abstracted depiction? Curator: Notice how the very act of seeing is made visible? The exaggerated glasses become almost architectural, and the eyes behind them are, well, structurally engineered. The linear precision, echoing old engraving styles, grants the portrait a quality of detached observation. Editor: Detached? He seems like he is scrutinizing you intensely. Curator: Exactly! The self is thus deconstructed. The gaze, normally the locus of identity, becomes a complex apparatus. We see not just the "I" but the "eye"—the seeing machine—a critical separation from simple portraiture and into a conceptual arena. Editor: I can see that, definitely going beyond just representing what someone looks like. Almost like an equation of identity. Curator: Precisely. What are your feelings about this particular set of symbols: The book and spiral binding, together with the depiction of the mechanical/engineered "I"? Editor: Maybe how our identities are not inherent, but rather constructions? Built from repeated processes and materials, not unlike putting a sketchbook together. Curator: Interesting thought. Editor: Seeing how you decode images helps reveal layers I hadn’t even considered. Thank you! Curator: My pleasure! I see now the book becomes as much a container for Identity as the drawing does.