Sometimes my autistic mind latches on to ideas and won’t let go. In 2009, that idea was to make a self-portrait every day.
It was a pretty rough period of my life. My mother had terminal cancer. I moved to another city three hours away to pursue school to become a doctor (you can guess how that turned out). My dad was also diagnosed with cancer. I had to undergo surgery for benign growths (which I didn’t know were benign at the time). My engagement just ended. Believe it or not, there was a lot more going on during that period too.
You can see it all in my self portraits.
Chalk pastel self-portrait by Jackie Schuld
When I showed them to my husband this year, he eventually wanted to stop because he felt they were too sad to look at.
When I look at them, I can remember exactly how I felt.
In this one, I was on percocet after my surgery and felt very confused.