Self-Portraits with Sun Spots

For these works, I documented my own face, which I thought of as a surface—like a microplanet. I then downloaded the NASA image of sunspot patterns from that same day, and fused them via Photoshop. The first one I made shocked me. The surfaces digitally fused in a way that looked “real,” like my face had physically changed, or had been damaged; the spots looked like skin lesions or birthmarks. It felt as if this celestial pattern was imposing its force directly on me and was out of my control. As I made more of these portraits, my face evolved incrementally over time. The sun’s surface mutated and churned as I grew incrementally older. I saw it as a diary akin to that of something from George Langelaan’s “The Fly.” My face became strange.

These sunspot patterns result in changes in our weather, and I was interested in the correlation between these patterns and our actions, as humans, on earth, and my own personal behavior. How does the climate affect our micro movements—where we walk (indoors or outdoors), or how much we eat, which affects our weight, which affects our physical and psychological states? Does it affect us emotionally (positive or negative heliotherapy)? We all are aware of global warming, but how weather affects individuals is equally important to explore. These patterns have consequences.

Read more at Smithsonian Archives of American Art

All works are 13 x 19 inches, Photographic Print on archival paper