Myra Self

Synopsis:
Avoiding the label of 'Conceptual', Myra Self work is interested mostly in questions of construct and perception. The construct of landscape is of prime concern. She does this through photography, sculpture and other media. The work below, Didactic Landscape questions the primacy of the photograph violently, and in a similar fashion to collage artists and the likes of Robert Smithson, Gordon Matta-Clark and others - who see the photograph as part of illustrative, rather than pictorial space. By interrupting the pictorial frame and introducing graphical and pedagogical elements, an opportunity to address a greater (or meta-) narrative is created. But it's not so dry in reality - the way this is done by the artist is witty, even playful, allowing the viewer the space to breathe and reflect and be amused while pondering the ramifications of the manoeuvring around the interposition of multiple representational spaces at the same time. The questions asked by the work are open ended by design. They are not themselves didactic - but rather leave the viewer open to a sense of wonder inherent in the question.

Myra Self - Didactic Landscape, 2006, Chromogenic Print, 40"x40"

Biography:
Born in Liverpool, England in 1957, Myra Self has been working as an artist with some success for twenty five years. Only recently under her current name, having undergone surgery to establish a new identity as a member of the 'fairer' sex. Having originally trained as a mathematician, and starting a career as a cryptologist at Cambridge, she simultaneously developed her art career in a secret but parallel life. In a way her gender and absolute identity changes mirror her work (or perhaps the other way around) - as her work in a very direct way questions identity, representation, context and standards of representation.

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