Here's a new one in progress. Unlike some of my other recent self-portraits in which I've pulled back from the mirror to show its surroundings, here I have centered in on a mirror tile that I've gridded with twine. I'm looking to get the painting of the twine to look as physical and 3d as possible. Grids have been used for centuries by painters seeking to accurately transcribe reality.  The photorealists, too, have famously employed grids towards the end of  capturing more precisely the look of a photograph. In including the grid of twine and emphasizing its physicality, I allude to the perceptual painter's goal of ensnaring a section of life's experience. In making the grid appear more physical than the mirror it entwines, I privilege the process over the image, drawing more attention to the means than the ends.   See paintings in previous posts that explore similar themes.   

                                                                      an earlier state...

                                                                 And an even earlier state...