Like a lightning flash, I realised I had seen that mouth somewhere. Dads mouth was open, with a slightly confused and pained expression. Then it dawned on me: it was a self-portrait by a then 80-year old Helene Schjerfbeck, facing old age. Some six months ago I was standing next to a hospital bed in the ER, […]
Pulla is a finnish traditional pastry, similar to the world-famous cinnamon roll. In her self-portrait Symbioosi (symbiosis) finnish artist Iiu Susiraja poses with pulla in a way reminiscent of the icons of Virgin Mary. In my previous post I wrote about arts ability to grant perspective on cultural phenomena. In this blog post I’d like to invite you to see with me, if art can act as guide to questions about body image. In other words: what can self-portraits show us about our relationship with food?
We’ve probably all had to deal with that devil on the shoulder asking if whatever you’ve chosen as your professional career makes any sense – it’s not really worth anything, is it? Most of the time, there’s a relatively easy way out, something to validate the choices made: “I’m a nurse to help save lives” […]
You know the feeling. Accidentally flicking on the front-facing camera on your phone, and coming face to face with the horror: a double-chin and squinting eyes. So why would anyone deliberately waste time and energy to paint themselves looking, well – gross? There’s a reason this is an important question, and it’s not just about the looks.
