(Above: One of Susan Detroy’s self-portraits, expressed as part of the natural landscape. She creates the images as part of her Facescape Dreams — Portrait of a Woman series)
By Randi Bjornstad
Susan Detroy’s latest gallery show, now on the walls at Dotson’s Photo Finishing on Willamette Street in Eugene, shows a series of self-portraits in which the artist-photographer’s face becomes part of the overall landscape.
Detroy’s Portrait of a Woman series examines women as part of nature and from their own perspectives
It’s soothing, mysterious, ingenious and thought-provoking, all at the same time.
Detroy calls this show Facescape Dreams — Portrait of a Woman, part of a much larger body of work she is creating under the Portrait of a Woman rubric.
Amazingly enough, given their complexity,the images have been created using an iPhone and an iPad. Detroy describes her process this way: “I turn my iPhone toward myself, using apps as I create, blending self- portrait images with iPhone-captured locations, environments, trees, water, plants and memento.”
She views this form of art as “an exploration, ultimately, sharing a multitude of merged personae. As I form and develop, each image builds new meanings.”
And while she has taken the iPhone self-portraits herself, these definitely are not “selfies.” Rather, she concurs with a statement from photographer Mark Fearnley, who said, “The difference between a selfie and a self-portrait is that a selfie shows what you look like, but a self-portrait shows who you are.”
Susan Detroy’s self-portraits mesh with nature through her use of iPhone and iPad technology
For her part, Detroy regards this body of work as “soul-based imagery.” She started the project in 2017 and by now has at least 100 images in the collection.
The self-portraits show the many faces of a woman as she ages, reflecting what others see in her as well as what she sees in herself, all expressed within the overlay of the truth of the natural world.
This latest series in Detroy’s work seems a fitting expansion of some of her previous explorations, which have included ethereal infrared photography, mythic animal folkloric paintings, and mixed-media paintings.
Facescape Dreams — A Portrait of a Woman
When: Through Oct. 10; a reception for the artist is from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 21
Where: Dotson’s Photo Finishing, 1668 Willamette St., Eugene
Store hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday
Information: susandetroy.com
