Painting portraits of people is a chance to interact with the subject. However, the final product inevitably projects the artist's imposed perspective through their aesthetic choices and technical execution. As the passive participant, the subject entrusts the artist with interpreting and presenting their identity and personhood.

In contrast, the advent of self-portraiture through photographic "selfies" indicates the contemporary desire for self-definition and agency in self-representation. Yet stigma persists around selfies as acts of vanity.

This tension between external portrayal and self-conception intrigued me. Genuinely knowing an individual requires listening to their narrative. I aspired to access people's stories through their own self-depictions. So, I designed this experiment to see how both can contribute to the conversation as a way for me to get to know the people I care about.