Self-Portrait at Perryville, Exclusive Print

“I created Self-Portrait at Perryville  for a college course in 2019. The assignment was to draw myself in my environment using some of the formal elements of art taught in the course, and describe the image in those terms. The following is adapted from the written portion of the assignment. The contrasting colors of the blue sky and orange clothing symbolize the contrast between limitlessness above and confinement below.

The buildings are simplified, but realistically convey their unimaginative boxy structure and neutral gray values. The lower half of the picture plane depicts a wide open space of dusty, sun-bleached dirt. Yet it’s the foreground that really conveys my environment: Despite the open space shown behind me, always there are chain-link fences keeping women in giant pens. Thus, we never forget we are confined. There is little shade, so when I venture into the heat, I wear a hat and sunglasses. The chain-link pattern is reflected in my dark lenses.

Here, I’ve got my earbuds in, listening to music or an audio book. The bright orange worn by all inmates makes us stand out against the drab buildings and dull brown dirt. Besides wearing the same clothes, we style our hair according to a detailed set of rules. So from far away, as this drawing depicts, we all look generally the same. Up close, however, the viewer can see we are unique in spite of our apparent sameness.”
— Jodi Arias