SElf portrait-suitcase

Self portrait
of
C a t h e r i n e R e i n k e
suitcase artist

It is customary for most artist to indulge in the traditional artists portrait , as I have on canvas I thought it was time to venue out into my favorite medium-the suitcase. As I recently begun to explore new depths of the the suitcase, quite literally, I chose this very run down,forgotten, used up, rusted and falling apart case. Which at one time had strength and character and was enviable.



This is textured white rather thick wall paper I thought it would be lovely to apply multi layers of paint on it, I was right I love the way it turned out.
There it is after I removed all the lining and washed it down. Sorry the image turned out blurry but you get the idea. The top is cardboard and my husband cut the center out for me with a jig saw.

The case fell apart and had to be completely reglued. It was filled with mold and I washed it down with beach water.



After all the water based varnish I needed to quickly dry it as the top of suitcase is simply cardboard.


I began doing recycled art because of the collection of the way I felt, thrown away , unappreciated, not shiny and new, not what society wanted. I have continually tried to remake myself from the hurt and trauma, betrayal and debilitating pain that I have endured in my life, to hide the pain under neath color , pattern and pretties. Just Like I do with my suitcases.
I took acid free art papers that had an old fashioned feel and simply randomly tore them and placed them on the case so much of the natural stressed wood could be exposed.
The gold paint gave this an elegant yet worn look. Nothing like gold, I love to work with it.

THE MEANING BEHIND THE CREATION

I made this mask a few years ago, it shows four eyes, indicating that my eyes are my predominate feature, I have been accused of being influenced to much by life because I love "eye Candy", it was a criticism.

Maybe so , I see and observe everything around me, textures, details, I find beauty in so much. I also added a sheer strip of lace over the mouth as I feel most of the time that I really can not express what I am really thinking. My radical or deeply spiritual views , which can boarder on unorthodox, thoughts on the origin of life, philosophy, vies on art and such are better left to the realm of my own mind and when I have attempted to share them I have been met at best which ridicule. I later added the tiny square mirror to the third eye, showing how inner thoughts and vision are reflected off the person who you are looking at. So in essence I have 5 eyes and no mouth!

Putting the hand in front of my mouth is an additional reinforcement of how i feel about others telling me hush up, it is a finger to the mouth saying shhh! or shut up or don't say that!



I dressed the mask up with big earrings and ruffle collar showing my love for clothing, she is festivel yet sad, a single tear can be seen dropping from her eye.
For the back I chose this solitary black and white image of the traditional style that represents the artist. The archetype symbol if you will . The artists black beret.