Natasha Jabre

Autoportrait 2023 is inspired by another self-portrait, Self-Portrait 1929 by Lilias Torrance Newton. When I was young I used to spend hours admiring Newton’s work at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. I got to know her subjects by the way they carried themselves, reclining or slumping as they adjusted to the hot studio lamps. Years later, I pursued that ideal by painting my subjects under similar conditions. My work’s connection to Newton further strengthened when I started creating portraits of my son and daughter. I wanted others to be as enthralled as I was by my children, so I incorporated elements of Newton’s work into my own. In doing so, I hoped to share the kind of captivation that was so powerful for me at a young age. With Autoportrait 2023, this pursuit of captivating myself and others has finally come full-circle; though my pose imitates Lilias’s, my likeness—and the dreams it embodies.

Subject: Self

Autoportrait 2023, acrylic on canvas, 40” x 30”

Natasha Jabre is an artist and teacher whose work encompasses multiple disciplines including painting, photography, drawing, printmaking and ceramics. Jabre received her B.F.A. from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, and her M.F.A. from The University of Massachusetts in North Dartmouth. In 2021 she also received her Bachelor of Education. Jabre has been an active part of the local art community. She is part of the Organization of Kingston Women Artists (OKWA), of which she is a board member and a member of the Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre and Kingston Photographic Club. She currently teaches photography and resides with her husband and children in Kingston, Ontario.