1994 Self Examples — Bobby Abate

In 1994, while I was in art school, I struggled deeply with identity and sexuality. I hated looking in the mirror and felt like a complete outsider wherever I went. Role play became my ultimate escape from the anxiety this created. For about a year, I kept a sketchbook where I re-invented myself through a series of pen-illustrated and numbered characters—starting as more-or-less representational and gradually becoming more absurd and whimsical. I imagined myself as objects like a shoe, a lamp, or a ragdoll. I later filmed myself embodying some of these characters for my VHS Self-Portraits.