From Self-portraits to Selfies: The Psychology of Representing Self

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Thursday, July 11th, 2019
7:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Join Jim Tanaka, UVic Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Brain Sciences, at the Legacy Downtown for an interactive evening exploring the connections between Myfanwy Pavelic’s self portraits and our present day notion of selfies. Drawing on current ideas of what makes a good selfie and whether they can capture a person’s true essence, Jim will discuss the psychology of self portraiture and why we take selfies.

About the exhibition:

Victoria-born artist Myfanwy Pavelic (1916-2007) was fascinated with the inner and outer dimensions of being human. Imbued with prescient human insights, and largely self-taught, she created insightful and compelling portraits in pencil, collage, acrylic and oil.

In an exhibition that spans her entire career, guest curator Patricia Bovey explores how Pavelic’s keen observation, empathy and knowledge of anatomy allowed her to capture her subjects’ inner essence – fears, vulnerabilities and strengths - consistently revealing the tensions between within and without. Her self-portraits honestly convey her own inner explorations and she used this experience to probe the depths of celebrities including acclaimed violinist Yehudi Menuhin, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and renowned actress Katharine Hepburn. Multilayered in feeling and expression, her works exude dignity, beauty and the depths of joy, sadness and despair.

Accessibility information:

Visiting the Gallery: The main entrance to Legacy is at street level and there are no steps or gaps to enter the main gallery, inner gallery or washrooms. The main entrance has two sets of heavy doors that must be manually opened. There are additional doors without push buttons to the inner gallery. There is ample space to maneuver a mobility device without any sharp turns.

Washrooms: Legacy has two single-stall, gender inclusive washrooms. Both of these washrooms have manual doors and only one provides ample space for mobility devices. The bathrooms are equipped with support bars but the depth of the sink and door handle style may be challenging for some patrons. Unfortunately, we don’t have a change table at this time.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding accessibility at Legacy, please contact [email protected] or call 250-721-6562.