I got a few books out of the library about Alexej Jawlensky. I love his abstract portraits. One aspect of his work that interested me quite a bit was its repetitive nature. He developed his vision from more representational to abstract. Among his portraits are several series ‘Constructivist Heads’ , ‘Meditations’, ‘Variations’.  The major elements of design (outlines of facial features) seem to be a template, virtually the same in each version. However, within the framework, each portrait expresses something different.

Jawlensky was a spiritual person. I imagine that his portraits, as similar to each other as they are, are like prayers. Formal prayer has a framework. It is repetitive. However, within each prayer is the potential for all expression.

Jawlensky-Inspired self portraits

I particularly like the idea of meditation in connection with self portraiture.  Below is another self portrait, the first of a series to emulate the repetitive nature of Jawlensky’s work. I understand completely that Jawlensky’s serial images have a completely different origin than mine, but the underlying idea of meditation is the theme I wish to explore.

Big Self Portrait