View allAll Photos Tagged Selfreflection
Watercolour on paper
Self-portraits from the 1980s to the Millennium
In the autumn of 1983, almost every day for two months, Hockney challenged himself to produce a self-portrait in charcoal. This period of intense self-reflection was, in part, a reaction to the untimely deaths of many of his friends due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The honesty and vulnerability exposed in these drawings is a far cry from the confident self-portraits of thirty years earlier. Like the pages of a diary, these works record the daily changes in the artist’s moods and emotions.
In 1999, alongside his camera lucida drawings he made a series of self-portraits, for which he could not use this optical tool. These playful and vulnerable drawings in which he displays different facial expressions, were influenced by Rembrandt’s self-portrait etchings. In others, he adopted the classical side profile and half-length pose found in self-portraiture throughout art history.
In 2002 Hockney turned to watercolour, a medium he hadn’t explored since the 1960s. This new way of working freed up his approach; allowing him to draw quickly and directly onto paper. Hockney described the watercolour series as ‘portraits for the new millennium’, convinced that, despite his experimentation with the camera lucida, the human eye, the hand and the heart were the best tools for capturing the individuality of his sitters.*
From the exhibition
David Hockney: Drawing from Life
(November 2023 - January 2024)
David Hockney (b.1937) is regarded as one of the master draughtsmen of our times. He widely champions drawing, which is at the heart of his studio activity and has underpinned his work throughout his life. From the early pen and ink and coloured pencil drawings, to his more recent experiments with watercolour and digital technology, the artist’s inventive visual language has taken many different stylistic turns.
Over the past six decades he has never stood still, or rested on a particular approach, medium or technique, remaining inquisitive, playful and thought provoking while generously sharing his ideas with his audience. His drawing reflects his admiration for both the Old Masters and ‘modern Masters’ from Rembrandt to Picasso.
Drawing from Life explores the artist’s unique vision of the world around him, which is played out in portraits of himself and his intimate circle. A room of new ‘painted drawings’ of visitors to his Normandy studio in 2021-2 offer a glimpse of Hockney’s continuing working life.
All works in the exhibition are by David Hockney..
[*National Portrait Gallery]
Taken in National Portrait Gallery
Is pessimism easier to maintain than optimism?
In this short, reflective monologue, Sindy explores why optimism can feel harder to sustain in an uncertain world. While pessimism protects itself, optimism requires renewal, participation, and the willingness to stay engaged with a future that isn’t guaranteed.
A calm, non-utopian reflection on hope, meaning, and the emotional work of looking forward.
SCRIPT:
Pessimism has momentum.
It protects itself.
If things go wrong, it was right.
If things go right, it stays cautious.
Optimism is different.
It has to be renewed.
Reconsidered.
Chosen again after disappointment.
It doesn’t ignore risk—
it just refuses to let risk
be the only story.
And that makes optimism fragile.
Not naive,
but exposed.
It requires memory—
remembering that progress has happened before,
even when it’s slow,
uneven,
or easy to miss.
Maybe pessimism feels easier
because it asks less of us.
And optimism feels harder
not because it’s unrealistic—
but because it requires
continued participation
in a future
that hasn’t proven itself yet.
#sindy #optimism #hope #FutureThinking #modernlife #selfreflection #humanexperience #quietthoughts #spokenword #introspection #aigenerated #MadeWithAI
Charcoal on paper
Self-portraits from the 1980s to the Millennium
In the autumn of 1983, almost every day for two months, Hockney challenged himself to produce a self-portrait in charcoal. This period of intense self-reflection was, in part, a reaction to the untimely deaths of many of his friends due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The honesty and vulnerability exposed in these drawings is a far cry from the confident self-portraits of thirty years earlier. Like the pages of a diary, these works record the daily changes in the artist’s moods and emotions.
In 1999, alongside his camera lucida drawings he made a series of self-portraits, for which he could not use this optical tool. These playful and vulnerable drawings in which he displays different facial expressions, were influenced by Rembrandt’s self-portrait etchings. In others, he adopted the classical side profile and half-length pose found in self-portraiture throughout art history.
In 2002 Hockney turned to watercolour, a medium he hadn’t explored since the 1960s. This new way of working freed up his approach; allowing him to draw quickly and directly onto paper. Hockney described the watercolour series as ‘portraits for the new millennium’, convinced that, despite his experimentation with the camera lucida, the human eye, the hand and the heart were the best tools for capturing the individuality of his sitters.*
From the exhibition
David Hockney: Drawing from Life
(November 2023 - January 2024)
David Hockney (b.1937) is regarded as one of the master draughtsmen of our times. He widely champions drawing, which is at the heart of his studio activity and has underpinned his work throughout his life. From the early pen and ink and coloured pencil drawings, to his more recent experiments with watercolour and digital technology, the artist’s inventive visual language has taken many different stylistic turns.
Over the past six decades he has never stood still, or rested on a particular approach, medium or technique, remaining inquisitive, playful and thought provoking while generously sharing his ideas with his audience. His drawing reflects his admiration for both the Old Masters and ‘modern Masters’ from Rembrandt to Picasso.
Drawing from Life explores the artist’s unique vision of the world around him, which is played out in portraits of himself and his intimate circle. A room of new ‘painted drawings’ of visitors to his Normandy studio in 2021-2 offer a glimpse of Hockney’s continuing working life.
All works in the exhibition are by David Hockney..
[*National Portrait Gallery]
Taken in National Portrait Gallery
Smoke and stillness captures a quiet pause between thoughts - a soft exhale in the middle of chaos.
Warm light brushes over my face, tracing serenity and introspection through the haze.
It’s not just stillness - it’s the moment when the world finally exhales with you.
Every day this week, there has been a heron in the pond, and it talks away as we watch. Perhaps it is saying, "come here little fish" or perhaps it is saying much more. I have been reading that heron medicine comes to those who are unaware who they are and where they belong in the world, and involves self relection.
What kind of person would you like to meet? Be the best version of yourself in every aspect! 💯👍🙌 • • • • • #buckeyebbc #columbus #thursdaythoughts #quote #relfection #selfreflection #considerthis #success #bethebestversionofyou #entrepreneur
My daemon cat, Aria really enjoyed the serenity of the place she was in… so many thoughts had overwhelmed her as of late and a pause from the chaos of the world around the feline was overdue…even a being of chaos and mischief needed moments of calm.
( I will update with a landmark of where this and the other were taken asap.. it was such a lovely place.)
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