September 30, 2014 - 21:26
The image I chose is a portrait by Chris Rush. I tried to find some information on him before doing my close reading, but I found it exceedingly difficult to find much of anything about him. Even his website has no information about the artist. I did find information about a Christopher Rush who is an artist for Magic cards, but I don't think it's him, and if it is, I'm having a hard time understanding why there's plenty of information on his illustrations for a game and very little about his portraits on disability.
Anyway, I found this particular portrait to be most compelling for several reasons. The first reaction I had to this portrait was, "Wow, how beautiful." At first I saw the subject as a young adult. Once I looked closer though, I realized that I was seeing two distinctive kinds of features. Those of a woman and those of a child. When looking at her breast and the side of her abdomen, it looks like the body of a physically mature woman. But looking at her face and the shape of her head, she seems much more like a young girl.
The juxtaposition of these two seemingly conflicting ages captured in one subject, took me by surprise and made me feel uncomfortable for looking at her as a sexual being. She's clearly confident in her nakedness, but her expression gives us a glimpse of her doubt. The pose she's in is reminiscent of a mug shot without a name or identification number. It's almost as if she's aware that she's done something wrong by allowing herself to be seen as sexual. The blame is then taken away from the viewer and put on the subject.
The way her hair wraps around her neck could be symbolic of wanting to protect herself, or being wrapped up in her own presentation. It could also stand in as a symbol of a failed struggle to hide parts of herself. Perhaps she doesn't want to be exposed in the way she is, but instead of being able to cover overtly sexualized parts of her body she is at least able to cover parts of her neck, back, and shoulder.