Self-Portrait in Profile c. 1986s

Saul Steinberg drew this self-portrait in profile with ink on paper, like a doodle, right there in his sketchbook. I like to think of him sitting and thinking, what do I look like? And then, in one fell swoop, getting it down. The outline is so reductive, so simple. A single line becomes a pair of glasses, the curve of a nose, a heavy brow. What was he thinking when he left out detail in one area, and then gave so much attention to another? It's like he’s saying, here I am. My face. Just a bunch of shapes, lines, and some filled-in areas to suggest volume. Maybe this connects to how he saw his own identity – fragmented, a little absurd, but still recognizably him. Artists like Steinberg remind me to embrace the unexpected, to find beauty in the everyday. After all, art isn't just about what we see, but how we see it. It’s like a conversation across time, artists riffing off each other, inspiring new ways of looking and being.