What is the true source of artistic inspiration? Is it divine or mystical? Does creativity come from nature, or from your subconscious? It seems the God of Unbearable Boredom breathed inspiration upon artist Nina Katchadourian on a flight two years ago. After spontaneously snapping a shot of herself with a toilet seat cover on her head in the airplane bathroom and noticing its uncanny resemblance to 15th-century Flemish portraiture, Katchadourian decided to create a whole series of these portraits. She says,
I decided to add more images made in this mode and planned to take advantage of a long-haul flight from San Francisco to Auckland, guessing that there were likely to be long periods of time when no one was using the lavatory on the 14-hour flight. I made several forays to the bathroom from my aisle seat, and by the time we landed I had a large group of new photographs entitled Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style. I was wearing a thin black scarf that I sometimes hung up on the wall behind me to create the deep black ground that is typical of these portraits.
Check out more of her hilariously and inventive portraits at her site!
Image source ninakatchadourian.com
