Self-portrait 7

Cultural programming
The way we view the world is partly determined by the people around us and the geographical place in which we grow up. My location is Christian-oriented, and that shapes my view, whether I like it or not. Not that it’s a problem; it’s just important to be aware of it.

Attached to a cross
This bronze skin, a cast of my own skin, hangs on the wall, the arms outstretched, the head hanging and the feet crossed. An association is easily made. After all, crucifix means ‘fixed to a cross’.

Different ways of exhibiting
Self-portrait 7 is always exhibited in different ways, both indoors and outdoors. Outside I exhibit this work in a living tree. The reason for exhibiting Self-portrait 7 in this way was provided by the purchase of a sculpture by the medieval Dutch sculptor Claus Sluter (c. 1389-1406) by the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum in 2021. This work carved from boxwood, shows Christ on the cross, with his mother Mary and the evangelist John. What makes the image so extraordinary is that the cross is formed by a ‘living tree’ and not by a man-made cross of dead wood. Thus, it has become part of the cycle of life and death and refers directly to the tree in the garden of Eden.