Vincent: the self-portraits

The self-portraits of Vincent van Gogh are examined in the context of his tragic life experience, ending in psychosis and suicide. The self-portraits are seen as repeated and unresolved efforts at self-exploration and self-definition in an attempt to add a sense of continuity and cohesion to a fragile and fragmented self-experience. The portraits are painted in mirror perspective; Vincent's search for identity is thus seen as mediated by the dynamics of the mirroring phenomenon. Further implications are explored in terms of processes of projection and introjection and their role in self-consolidation.