See Me Here: A Survey of Contemporary Self-Portraits from the Caribbean

Released in April 2014, See Me Here: A Survey of Contemporary Self-Portraits from the Caribbean, calls attention to recent directions in self-portraiture throughout the region, by focusing on artists who frequently or significantly use their physical selves, or those to whom they are linked by blood or significant experience, as an avenue for exploration and expression. In so doing, the book asks: How do we really see ourselves? How accurate is the image we present? What formative roles do our cultures and upbringings play? And, what role does the Caribbean as a physical and mental space have in the creation and perception of our own personal, visual identities?

One of the most common understandings of the self-portrait is that it reveals something of an artist’s inner feelings or personality. While this is one focus of See Me Here, the book also examines how, by using their own likenesses, certain artists are speaking to potentially complex, multilayered matters – identity, history, race, gender, sexuality, politics – thus defining themselves within their given contexts and through vastly varied experiences.

See Me Here features the work of 25 artists from the English speaking Caribbean: Akuzuru, Ashraph, Ewan Atkinson, James Cooper, John Cox, Renee Cox, Annalee Davis, Susan Dayal, Laura Facey, Joscelyn Gardner, Lawrence Graham-Brown, Anna Ruth Henriques, Nadia Huggins, Michelle Isava, O’Neil Lawrence, Jaime Lee Loy, Che Lovelace, Joshua Lue Chee Kong, Olivia McGilchrist, Steve Ouditt, Sheena Rose, Irénée Shaw, Roberta Stoddart, Stacey Tyrell, and Dave Williams.