Jen Mann’s stirring oil portraits blend realism and abstraction, isolating aspects of the face for photo-negative representations and graphic notes. Mann uses contemporary iconography in her works, using emojis and film subtitles as inspiration. Her toying with a single subject over many portraits represent the prism of personality.
“In the society of ‘me,’ where we document ourselves like celebrities and share our lives online for everyone, the self is a prevalent and important topic to our generation,” the artist says. “Our identities are curated like our online profiles to reflect only the parts of ourselves we chose to keep alive. Who am I? Who are you? What does my life mean? Why am I alive? Mann’s work aims to address these very elusive questions, and explore, but not necessarily answer all of them.”
See more of Mann’s work below.
