In Catherine Opie’s Self-Portrait/Cutting (1993), the Los Angeles–based photographer is pictured with her back to the camera. Etched into her skin are two stick figures with skirts holding hands, with a childlike illustration of a house beneath a cloud-covered sun. Her photograph—which cameoed in an early episode of The L-Word—balances vulnerability with defiance and, to this day, is a stark reflection of the ongoing struggle for inclusion for queer people. The visceral self-portrait conveys the artist’s yearning for a sense of place, a timeless and profoundly resonant sentiment in the queer community.
At the Leslie-Lohman, Queer Artists Transform Our Understanding of Home
Maxwell Rabb, Artsy, 27 Out 2023
