Self-Portrait with pipe / Autoretrato con pipa

“In Self-Portrait with Pipe (1991), Carrillo uses his own face and hand as objects of self study but as props for what he considered light and shadow- sacred twins. His expression, with eyes looking off into the distance, is dreamily unfocused, as if he has caught himself in an unguarded moment. He has painted a self portrait of a man who is not looking at himself. It is the intensity of the light sculpting his muscular brows and mouth that interests him. The man himself is merely the experimental vehicle.”

– Christina Waters, from the Crocker Catalogue for “Testament of the Spirit”

Photo courtesy of The Crocker Art Museum