Self Portrait - Deterioration Build [2020]

Portraits Project (2019-)

Self Portrait / Deterioration (2020)

This self portrait is materialised using android 3D scanning software, Unity Engine, and Facerig (all  of which are free softwares) to create a never-ending virtual interpretation of my face’s geometry, movement and being.

The images you see on the left are all 40x40cm oil on canvas paintings made from images generated by the game engine program. The camera 'cuts' into the model, not rendering aspects that have become too close to the camera. This, in some of the paintings, results in the structure of the model becoming exposed - like the weird eyeballs or teeth, or the back of the head. There is no back to the head - depending on which version you are looking at - you are left with an infinite digital void, or the surface of the canvas.

The wider project comprises game engine programs, 3D scans, videos, performances, paintings, digital models and more. Influenced by the discussions OOO and the ‘being’, of virtual entities this project started as a series of ‘Diary room’ portraits of Adobe Fuse avatars and has since expanded to be a series of broader experiments looking at the interplay between ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ ontologies, and representations of portraiture throughout history including those in art history and painting, to TV talking heads or virtual avatars.

Jo McGarry is an artist based in London, currently studying an MFA at the Slade School of Art, UCL.

www.jomcgarry.com