Self Portrait in a Mirror 1957

John Bratby made this self-portrait with lashings of thick oil paint. Look at the material presence of the paint, how he’s gone at it! I imagine him standing before the canvas, maybe with a smoke in his mouth, really layering it on. The surface is anything but flat, he’s used that material to build up a kind of atmosphere around himself. The red of his cardigan pops against the drabber palette, like a flame flickering in a dark room. It makes me think of a painter like Van Gogh, but grittier. There's a certain vulnerability in showing himself like this, surrounded by empty bottles. It’s the ongoing conversation artists have across time. Painting allows us to embrace the ambiguity and uncertainty of life. It’s not about definitive readings but about opening up space for multiple interpretations.