An Archival Self Portrait (Long May I Continue), 2025 - ongoing (I hope)

45cm x 45cm (approx). Folded giclee print on archival paper and Tyvek book display pillow. A new print added for every extra year lived by the artist.

Reaching ‘middle age’ seems to come with a range of changes in behaviour - buying a smart watch; staring at my belly more; trying to take up running again; really appreciating bird song and nature; cutting down on junk food and alcohol consumption; finally thinking about making a will; seriously considering the purchase of a fire escape ladder for the house; wearing screen glasses to lessen the glare of computer monitors; eating snacks in groups across fewer occasions in a day to lower plaque production; wondering what ‘legacy’ I’ll leave behind, if any.

My mind and body no longer feel as indestructible or plastic as they did in my 20s and with that comes an apparent drive to conserve and preserve myself.

Strangely, middle age has also brought with it an ace opportunity to engage with archival research through a PhD and the parallels in behaviour in archives to self care seem uncanny in this context.

This work is a result of this feeling and situation. A photo taken each year from now until I’m no longer around printed using archival methods and stacked atop each other, folded down my spine, supported by an archival book pillow.