Oscar yi Hou

Self-portrait (26.5), aka Summer

From the age of eighteen, Oscar yi Hou has painted a self-portrait every year to track his personal and stylistic development. Drawing on a larger history of artists experimenting with the self-portraiture genre, yi Hou uses these paintings to explore his own artistic motifs and larger Asian American narratives. Former iterations of yi Hou’s portraits feature intricate frames and loose brushstrokes. Self-portrait (26.5), aka Summer marks a change in the series: it is the smallest composition and the first to feature only his face. The smaller scale creates an intimate viewing experience. Thin
contrasting blue and red lines around yi Hou’s eyes demonstrate his brilliant grasp of color theory and build dimension through painting. His downcast eyes simultaneously invite and refuse a confrontation with the viewer, perhaps encouraging his statement that this portrait is the one that “feels the most rawly me.”