Miriam: standing nude self portrait oil painting with halo
Oil on Panel 72 inches x 36 inches Not For Sale
There is nothing like painting a life-sized nude self-portrait to help you get over your body insecurities! The idea for this oil painting has been on my mind for several years now. With middle age engulfing my perspective I've found myself more irritated by the artistic portrayal of nude bodies. As I studied feminist writing on the "male gaze" I became more uncomfortable painting and drawing from nude models knowing full well I was too insecure about my aging and fluffy body to ever experience what my models were experiencing. It made me feel like a hypocrite to paint a nude figure and not be willing to take my own clothes off and paint my own body.
There is nothing like painting a life-sized nude self-portrait to help you get over your body insecurities! The idea for this oil painting has been on my mind for several years now. With middle age engulfing my perspective I've found myself more irritated by the artistic portrayal of nude bodies. As I studied feminist writing on the "male gaze" I became more uncomfortable painting and drawing from nude models knowing full well I was too insecure about my aging and fluffy body to ever experience what my models were experiencing. It made me feel like a hypocrite to paint a nude figure and not be willing to take my own clothes off and paint my own body.
This painting was created to assuage my guilt. And yet, somehow in the process of trying to be honest about my own figure, I grew more and more confident in my this fleshy enclosure that houses my soul. While exhibiting this painting was terribly frightening, I chose to show it proudly for Hilltop, a group exhibition of works by Oregon College of Art and Craft (OCAC) final year students who are completing their BFA degrees at Pacific Northwest College of Art. The photos below show this painting installed in the gallery.