THE SELF-PORTRAIT
This series of 60 unique self-portraits considers questions about the mass production of art, its monetization, and valuation, and the relationship between artist, art, and ownership. It is an exploration of beauty standards, self-worth, and cultural identity, as shaped by modern, commercial fashion and the clothes worn by women in my family, over generations.
The visual expression of these themes is inspired by diverse sources – Renaissance portraiture, contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol and Cindy Sherman, and the recent phenomenon of NFT art, specifically, the photography being created in that space.
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Lindsay Siu
Meet Lindsay
atedge (Francesca): Vancouver based portrait photographer, Lindsay Siu, is constantly creating and exploring societal norms, race, and cultural identity through her various personal series. She does this with her Public Transit, 1957 vs 2017: Covid-19, Isolation and Clue projects.
Her current Self-Portrait 2022 series is comprised of 60 self-portraits. Each image reflects her technical prowess, formalist composition, and painterly lighting. She models outfits and hairstyles from her family’s matriarchs who shared a clear love of fashion through the decades.
What inspired this project?
Lindsay: Late last year I visited the house that my aunt and uncle shared with my paternal grandparents. They had recently sold it and moved out, and the home was to be emptied and torn down. My extended family had lived in this house for over 40 years. I was stunned at how virtually everything had remained in place since I was a child. Even my grandparent’s clothes perfectly hung in their closets despite having passed away years before. It was an ancestral time capsule of multiple generations filled with memories and even smells. I proceeded to collect a number of articles of clothing to add to my already growing collection of vintage hand-me-downs from my mother, my maternal grandmother and my aunts. The women in my family loved fashion and even more amazing was the fact that we all shared similar sizes and could don each other’s clothing. These clothes informed our shared histories, culture, and race and from that moment I knew I had to create a personal project that explored these themes.
Lindsay: My family came to Canada from Hong Kong and China, by way of Hong Kong, in the 1960’s. I come from kick-ass generations of women who instilled how important it is to make it on your own. I remember how my grandmother always encouraged strength and independence and she was brutally honest that you could not rely on anyone else but yourself. All these women who educated themselves and worked hard, also all found a sense of self through fashion. A number of pieces come directly from when they lived in Hong Kong, while others are pieces from after they had built a new life and new identity in Canada. As I started to formulate my series, I started to think about how these dresses went places, traveled across oceans, found new homes, and how they informed my own history and our families background. With each portrait, I take on these different generations, with a sense of pride in their past, their culture and the success they came to know.
Why 60 portraits?
Lindsay: As I started to explore my own history, and themes of identity, I also wanted to touch on two other ideas. At the time, I was curious about the NFT craze, and the monetization of art and for that matter how one defines ‘what is art’. Separately, I wanted to tackle how I would create 60 unique and original portraits using photography, without using an AI program that would be able to automatically mass produce thousands of images from a programmed algorithm. As there are 60 seconds in a minute, and 60 minutes in an hour, the idea of time is reflected in choosing 60 portraits. With each sitting, and each shot, I question who I am now, and how many versions are there of me.
Can you tell us a bit about your decision to sit and pose more or less in the same position?
Lindsay: I came from an art history background. I have always been drawn to formal portraiture. I love the concept of recording people’s likeness over time, but also the power of the gaze and self-awareness of the subject, and revealing their own character not only through their pose and facial countenance, but also through color palette, clothing and jewelry.
As a photographer typically hiding behind the camera, this was an incredible experience for me – exploring being more vulnerable and revealing aspects of myself in different ways than I have in past personal projects. The visual expression of these themes is inspired by diverse sources – Renaissance portraiture, contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol and Cindy Sherman, and the recent phenomenon of NFT art, specifically, the photography being created in that space.
Lindsay Siu has been recognized nationally and internationally for her work, such as in Communication Arts, Graphis, Applied Arts, the One Show, and Luerzer’s Archive’s 200 Best Photographers Worldwide. She works both in advertising and creating key art for the entertainment industry for such clients as Netflix / Nickelodeon / Paramount+ / Roku / Walt Disney Television / Warner Bros. / The New York Times / New York Magazine / The Globe And Mail / Penguin Books / Report On Business / Rogers Publishing / Toyota / Bench / McDonald’s Restaurants / Kohl’s Department Stores / Kal Tire / Fairmont Hotels / Shaw Communications / Telus Communications.
To see more inspiring work, view Lindsay’s online portfolio on At-Edge and visit Lindsay Siu’s website.
