Self portrait

Weaver Hawkins produced an intimate series of paintings of himself and his family while living in Mona Vale on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. 'Self portrait' 1941 is painted in a style of exacting realism and makes prominent the artist’s damaged right hand. Hawkins was severely injured in July 1916 at Gommecourt, France during the First World War, damaging both hands and losing the function of his right. While he was determined not to be publicly defined by his injuries, in this private work Hawkins gives his wounded hand prominence in the imaging of his artistic identity.

'Self portrait' is a striking statement of his artistic vision of clarity and proportion, but also subverts simple compositional balance. Hawkins paints himself framed by a series of reflected, tilted and diagonal angles that skew the presence of a straightforward reality. The artist has toned down his usual deeply saturated palette, instead setting his image to the dim glow of indoor electric light that casts a yellowish tone to his features and instils a mood of disquiet.

Hawkins’ aesthetic of clarity and order ultimately serves to project a self-image of defiance. With the upward tilt and foreshortened ground of the composition, his expression appears confident, even triumphant.