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.
In the infancy of society every author is necessarily a poet
Personal style is about a sense of yourself, a sense of what you believe in and wearing what you like.
I knew there was something special about the theater for me something beyond the regular reality, something that I could get into and transcend and become something other than myself.
Everybody, no matter what vocation they're looking at, should add music as an essential to their curriculum. Music can be a very important part of your soul and your growth as a human being. It's so powerful.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the public's relationship to art has been weakened by a profound institutional reluctance to address the question of what art is for. This is a question that has, quite unfairly, come to feel impatient, illegitimate, and a little impudent.
The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration.
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