Untitled

As a sculptor, painter and photographer, Lucas Samaras has often focused on himself as subject. In his photographic work, he is especially known for his use of the Polaroid process. From 1969–1971, he created a series of theatrical self-portraits which he titled Auto Polaroids; and in 1973 he began to experiment with the new SX-70 Polaroid process, which allowed him to easily manipulate the emulsion with his fingers while the print itself developed. This technique allowed for expressive, colorful and surreal images that fuse photographic detail with bright smears of painterly abstraction.