Self Portrait

26" x 36"
Oil on canvas, framed

This piece garnered Chrystal Phan an Honourable Mention at the 2023 Kingston Prize portrait competition in Ontario. 

"As a woman and as a painter we historically see men painting women, whether in paintings, movies, ads, etc. I wanted to paint this self portrait for middle-aged women like myself. It's regular - nothing exotic, sexualized or exploitative. Painting myself allowed me more freedom since I know every corner of my face and I wasn't afraid of how I would represent myself. I could give myself strong neck lines and didn't have to worry about disappointing someone by painting them in such a real, unfiltered way. For this piece I played with colours, using green, orange and purple to represent white, which gives a contemporary feel to a more traditional way of painting and helps to bring it into the modern age."