Self-portraits 自畫像

Self-portraits
Ask an artist to name a model who never needs to be paid. The answer is always the artist himself or herself.
I have done quite a number of self-portraits, rendered in different media: brush-and-ink, woodcut, and even seal engraving. However, my oeuvre of self-images is relatively small compared with renowned artists such as Rembrandt or Max Beckmann.
Self-portraits are usually considered as self-presentations or self-examinations. It’s the urge of most artists of self-portraiture to present themselves in a different manner to make a difference – the modernists and postmodernists in particular. My handling of self-portraiture can be judged by the self-images collected here. – FS

自畫像
你找個藝術家問一問：哪個模特兒是不需付錢僱用的？答案是：藝術家本人就是了。
我也繪製過一些自畫像，使用的媒材包括水墨、木刻以至印章。不過，論數量，我的自畫像遠遠不及林布蘭及麥斯‧貝克曼等知名畫家那麼多。
人們從自畫像往往能見到藝術家怎樣對人呈示自己或作自我檢視。很多畫家繪製自畫像時，都會有種渴求，希望能營造出與眾不同的面目來──現代和後現代藝術家的這種傾向尤為強烈。至於我處理自畫像的手法如何，圖像就在這裏，讓看畫讀畫的人評說吧。– FS

Cover image
Eye Trouble (A self-portrait in 2004, after an eye operation)
眼疾 (2004 年眼部手術後)
2004, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 158 x 97.5 cm
This brush-and-ink piece was done in 2004, shortly after I had undergone an eye operation. While resuming my work after the operation, I celebrated the recovery from my eye trouble with a self-portrait contrasting my middle-aged image with my children one. This painting was used as the last piece to wrap up a series named “My Family and My City: People and History”, exhibited in 2009.
我曾受眼疾困擾，2004年做了個手術。手術之後恢復工作，畫了這張畫像以作慶祝，把人到中年的方蘇與孩童時期的樣貌作比照。其後這張畫用來終結2009年展出的一個系列，系列名為我家我城：人與歷史。

Project gallery
1. Bending Over  伏案
2019. A sketch based on a snap shot. This sketch has been compiled into the book A Defiant City: 239 sketches of Hong Kong’s mass protest movement (See Home and What’s New).
2019年速寫。底本是照片。此速寫收錄在已出版的圖冊《抗命之城》内（見首頁及近訊）。

2. The Marginal Man of a Family 這一家的邊沿人
2015, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 121 x 97 cm
The artist paid a visit to his elder brother (middle) and their mother (right) in San Francisco in 2014. All of the artist’s family members are not living in Hong Kong.
方蘇 2014年赴三藩市探視其胞兄(中)及母親(右)。他原先在港的家人俱散居外地。

3. Life Image 寫真
2008, ink and colour on paper 水墨設色紙本, 61 x 96 cm
Models for free – two, the artist and his pet kitten.
免費模特兒 – 兩個。

4. Nay (Half of a woodcut print 版畫半張) 2014

5. A seal print 印章一款 2007