Giving the selfie an artistic twist, SHOWstudio invited illustrators to draw self portraits in self isolation, selecting their favourite catwalk looks from the Autumn/Winter 2020 collections as their outfits of choice. The international illustrators' works hover somewhere between reality and imagination: projecting a fantasy self in clothing that is not yet available to wear, created in the restricted physical reality of COVID-19 containment.
The artists have interpreted a wide breadth of brands, from the simple everyday elegance of Ami menswear, the dystopian sharpness of Balenciaga to the feminine opulence of Alexander McQueen and Giambattista Valli. Using pencil, ink and paint, the artists explore and convey the contrasts and the mood swings, the frustration and the playfulness that they're feeling and experiencing during this frozen moment.
These self isolation self portraits raise the question of self definition. Video calling requires that you gaze upon yourself more often; while chatting to colleagues or loved ones, there's a tiny window that shows how you look, too. These simple interactions take on a new dimension of self awareness. What does it mean to capture yourself not as you are but how you'd like to be?