Veronika Lavey

I am a self-portrait artist. I photograph myself taking on the persona of an autobiographical or a theatrical character to create artwork depicting resilience and strength in hardship. My work illuminates shared experiences to create a sense of belonging relying mostly on personal experiences of what it feels like to be a misfit. My mission is to reproduce familiar feelings into visuals through conceptually layered, digitally manipulated photographs, as well as the written word, which often accompanies the images, usually in poetry form.

My methodology to create self-portraits remains consistent in its process, whereby I work alone with the aid of a camera, a tripod, and a remote control. However, I use a variety of ideas to create narratives I believe we are all connected to; the ones we are naturally wired to listen to, the ones that make us feel united in our pain, our hopes our journey of life. I continuously look to refine my visual language in a way that first

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I am a self-portrait artist. I photograph myself taking on the persona of an autobiographical or a theatrical character to create artwork depicting resilience and strength in hardship. My work illuminates shared experiences to create a sense of belonging relying mostly on personal experiences of what it feels like to be a misfit. My mission is to reproduce familiar feelings into visuals through conceptually layered, digitally manipulated photographs, as well as the written word, which often accompanies the images, usually in poetry form.

My methodology to create self-portraits remains consistent in its process, whereby I work alone with the aid of a camera, a tripod, and a remote control. However, I use a variety of ideas to create narratives I believe we are all connected to; the ones we are naturally wired to listen to, the ones that make us feel united in our pain, our hopes our journey of life. I continuously look to refine my visual language in a way that first intrigues and draws people in, then sets them thinking.

To me, being an artist is a never-ending journey through these ideas and human experiences. It is an exciting journey; building images from scratch, employing a rich visual language of surrealism and symbolism, which is made more familiar by often involving the natural elements of the woodland, always with a delicate yet powerful feminine undertone.

Ideas for the images are drawn from a myriad of sources; from conversations with people experiencing hardship, through poetry (my own as well as others) to the woods I visit daily. They are linked by the same personal desire to find my own fit in the world.

The square format provides me with a particular space in which I prefer to work in order to achieve a balanced, central composition. This frame also has the additional benefit of helping the viewer believe they are looking at something other-worldly instead of a photograph in its traditional sense of the medium and its usual format. The final piece usually looks very different from the original photograph. I carefully blend elements, highlight the subject, play with colours and choose appropriate clothing and an ambiguous location to give the finished work a feeling of timelessness. I don’t capture moments, I capture relatable feelings, which the audience can then translate into their own stories.

Art, in times of need, can bring a kind of peace and comfort in how we interpret its depicted thoughts and ideas. By recognising one’s self in any art form, deep-rooted feelings will latch onto the artistic experience and find solace.

Veronika Lavey