"Self- Portrait" – A Study of the 'Self':

The above are some examples of a number of artists from different periods who dealt with the self -
portrait. The difference between them is in style, objectives and motivation, but what they have in
common is that they are occupied with investigating the 'self'. In their investigations they caused what is
hidden to be exposed and become visible. In this way they are worthwhile to every social researcher
who considers research as a way of making things visible (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994).
I consider a painter who does a self - portrait to be an investigator of reality, and for the sake of my
research here I claim that this is only the beginning of the investigation. In my research I wish to bridge
and connect between two forms of research and give additional meaning to the phenomenon of painting
a self - portrait. In addition to Lorand's (1991) definition who considers painting a complementary
interpretation, I claim that this is only one link in a chain of interpretations, especially when one deals
with investigating the 'self' (which cries out from the paintings of self - portraits). That will be the point
from which my research question will develop (see chapter 2 – Meta- Introduction; chapter 3 –
Designing the Research).
1.2 Painting a Self- Portrait – Phenomenon – Human Behaviour
For the purpose of the present investigation I define the phenomenon of painting a self - portrait as a
kind of human behaviour. This phenomenon is characterised by unique behaviour and represents a kind
of self-investigation. This behaviour has a language, an environment, tools and rules, and its products
both document and perpetuate it. In my research I wish to study this phenomenon through the
products that it creates. The aim of this research is to continue the investigation that started in the
act of painting, to create new knowledge, turn the process of investigation that exists here into a
tool and lever for personal, mental and self - development.
The phenomenon that has been described as human behaviour describes and represents an
investigation and its products are the interpretations that complement reality. I wish to state that this
inquiry is not complete; hence it should be continued and completed. By this I mean that painting a self -
portrait, according to this research, is an investigation that demands to be investigated. I therefore
combine two disciplines – 'qualitative research' and 'art', and as stated by Maxine Green, in my research
I do not wish to explain or measure but to search for the meaning of things (in Baldacchino, 2009). I
intend to find a way through which I will be able to expose what is hidden inside the visible, and
consider the various processes of exposure to be my main interest.
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