Boyd, Mattie M.2016-03-222016-03-222016-03-08http://hdl.handle.net/10267/27135This image was photographed and uploaded to DLynx in the Visual Resources Center during spring 2016.Artist's statement: "The self-portrait, Untitled, confronts traditional nude figure painting by using a non-traditional or non-normative body type as the focus. The figure is painted with lush and rich colors and is posed in a confrontational way that challenges the viewer which is heightened by its almost life size of 62x48” with the head of the figure at eye level to the viewer. The idea for this painting came about through my own personal experiences with body image and self-confidence, which prompted me to want to paint a nude portrait of myself. The struggles I encountered when painting this painting were scale and proportion as well as painting a realistic figure. The background consists of an overall color field background made up of fast and large brushstrokes and contains bright pops of color that add energy and an anxiety to the piece. The figure is sharing the space with several simplistically painted “normative” bodies of various size and color that fade in and out of the background. The figures that help compose the background serve to create a sea of figures that are favored being obscured by a nontraditional body being confident in her own skin. My previous work has been on a smaller scale and more abstract so the jump to realism was a bit rocky. Moving forward from this work will challenge me to think more critically about what the body means and what it means to paint the figure as well as how to tackle the conceptual ideas I would like to work with while keeping the figure fresh and exciting." This is a digital photograph of Mattie Boyd's painting. It was submitted as an assignment in the spring 2016 Intermediate/Advanced Painting class taught by Professor Erin Harmon.62 x 48"en-USRhodes College owns the rights to this digital material which is made available for educational use only and may not be used for any non-educational or commercial purpose. Approved educational uses include private research and scholarship, teaching, and student projects. For additional information please contact archives@rhodes.edu.Student Artwork2016 SpringPaintingsArt and Art History, Department ofImage