see.through.selves (site, medium, sign) features work by: ANNA SLEZAK | SETH GREGORY | CHRIS MILLET | ED KWAITKOWSKI | WILLIAM HANNUM | JULIA HANDSCHUH | GINEEN COOPER | JESSE RICHARDS | HALEY MORGAN | LACE HELMET & SARAH BLISS

The body and image of the artist, both as subject and object, has been a source of expression and language since at least the early seedlings of Modernism. It is difficult to quantify and identify how much an artist's own body provides both source and context for multiple visual and performative expressions. From the representation inherent in the self-portrait as an intentional presentation of identity, we move to the employment of a self that becomes partially dissolved in a work. This means sometimes operating as a sort of canvas, site or relational object within artworks where the subject and object of the art are difficult to differentiate. This collection of works by Valley Art Share artists highlights some of the gradations and crossovers between self-portraiture as representation of identity and the self as a site.

Maggie Nowinski is a multi-disciplinary visual artist and arts educator who lives and works in New England and New York City. www.maggienowinksi.com