The portrait is the image of images. Due to it depicting the human face, it has been subdued to the subject of bare representation and used as a tool to depict the social status of the portrayed person for many years. The function of the portrait was called into question with the development of photography in 19th century and the consequential mass production of the face in 20th century. Despite the fact it has managed to survive and persevere. With the obviously prolific history it remains abundantly clear, that throughout its past, portraiture was confronted with questions such as the question of self, question of the subject, question of representation, question of the silent look of the portrait and of depiction as an act etc. One way or another, artists were fighting a battle against the portrait and the mask it produced. Motivated by the desire to challenge the problematic nature of the portrait and uncovering a way to find my own expressive language I will try to engage the means of bringing life into the portrait. In the thesis I will therefore undertake a confrontation with the before mentioned questions and attempt to provide a discourse in order to reflect on my own artwork.
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