self portrait — + Carrie Witherell +

I made these studies back when we lived in our old one bedroom apartment where I worked out of a tiny corner of the kitchen. Space was super tight and I knew I wanted to incorporate these ideas into a large painting, and so I had to put the idea on the backburner and do smaller projects instead. It’s really challenging to work where you live, especially when you have two small boys that love to get into everything and “help” draw over your drawings and paintings. I love their creativity, but RIP some of my work.

I was so excited to move to our new house and make the garage into studio space. I am slowly circling around these motifs and reimagining what I want to do with them now that I have the space and materials. The main idea in these is celebrating an exuberant grotesqueness, which I love because of the subsequent feeling of mental freedom.

Self as Fish Study, oil on paper, 14x17”, 2019.

These studies are particular favorites of mine, and I go back to them often when I am feeling insecure or vulnerable about my own work. They help me remember what I like about my work, and guide me back onto a productive path.