Audrey Flack - We Are All Light and Energy

Photorealism

We Are All Light and Energy. 1981
Acrylic and oil on canvas, 46x66" - Private Collection

In the self-portrait titled We Are All Light and Energy, Audrey Flack purposely used a slide taken by someone else to distance herself in order to gain control over her work. there is an intentional spatial ambiguity as well as iconic symmetry to her face. Once again, her image is idealized to bring out the goddess she sees in herself as well as all women. There are halolike yellow strokes around the face, and Flack holds a parrot as a sign of longevity (she is often photographed with parrots, and has included them in several works). This portrait has an assertion of female creative power and comments on traditional feminine roles. As with much of Flack's work, We Are All Light and Energy stresses authoritative and vocal presence of women, and reject passivity (Gouma-Peterson 40).
This work is inscribed with the title, “we are all light and energy,” which I beliueve is indicative of Flack's work as a whole. She stressed the beauty and light in individual people, especially women, and brings that emotion out in her painting.