This I painted in 2012 after a break-up.  It represents where my head was at during that time.  It’s a combination of anxiety and confusion and hope and excitement.  I did this mostly for therapeutic reasons, which is really why I paint in the first place.  There’s a face in the disordered paint, hence the self-portrait title.  The title is taken from a song my friend Sam Elison wrote a very long time ago.  

Self-portrait, Oct. 2012: The effect of heartbreak on the olfactory glands, 2012, 23 x 36 inches, acrylic, spray paint, and water on canvas

Before the intentional obfuscation