Everyone thinks these are self-portraits but they aren't meant to be. I just use myself as a model because I know I can push myself to extremes, make each shot as ugly or goofy or silly as possible.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the idea that the artist uses their own image not for self-representation, but as a tool for exploring extreme expressions and emotions.
Cindy Sherman emphasizes that her artwork, often perceived as self-portraits, is not solely about portraying herself. Instead, she uses her own likeness as a medium to explore various themes and push boundaries, allowing her to portray exaggerated, humorous, or unconventional aspects of identity and society.
In practice
In a discussion about contemporary art, I could use this quote to illustrate the unconventional approaches artists take in self-representation.
I like making images that from a distance seem kind of seductive, colorful, luscious and engaging, and then you realize what you're looking at is something totally opposite. It seems boring to me to pursue the typical idea of beauty, because that is the easiest and the most obvious way to see the world. It's more challenging to look at the other side.
I wanted pretty pictures of older women - women who are trying too hard but succeeding - pulling off an extreme look. What I didn't know would creep into the portraits was a vulnerability behind the strong facade that most of them wear.
People think because it's photography it's not worth as much, and because it's a woman artist, you're still not getting as much - there's still definitely that happening. I'm still really competitive when it comes to, I guess, the male painters and male artists. I still think that's really unfair.
Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use – do the work you want to see done.
Poetry is written with tears, fiction with blood, and history with invisible ink.
Speed is scarcely the noblest virtue of graphic composition, but it has its curious rewards. There is a sense of getting somewhere fast, which satisfies a native American urge.
Of all the wonders that the world had to offer, only art promised immortality.
If you sing of beauty though alone in the heart of the desert you will have an audience.
Emerald as heavy as a golf course, ruby as dark as an afterbirth, diamond as white as sun on the sea.
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