"Study for Self Portrait"

"Study for Self Portrait" 
 

Kerry Wright

1971 

Sepia ink on cartridge paper

The resultant original oil has long since vanished and only this preliminary self-portrait sketch survives. I had leaped over the monastery wall and was in the process of setting out upon my exciting new life. In this image, I gaze fixedly at the reflection looking back at me from the mirror before me. Analytical self-examination has always been an ongoing theme in my life. 

"Study for Self Portrait in Carmelite Habit"

"Study for Self Portrait in Carmelite Habit" 
 

Kerry Wright

1970 

Indian ink on cartridge paper

 I drew this image of myself wearing the Carmelite religious habit when I was studying for the priesthood within the Carmelite cloister of Mount Carmel Monastery in Sydney. I ultimately decided against this somewhat dramatically confrontational image for the final product (scroll down); however, this drawing probably says a lot about my anguished mental state at the time it was executed.

"Self Portrait in Carmelite Habit"

"Self Portrait in Carmelite Habit" 
 

Kerry Wright

1970 

Oils on canvas

60cm x 50cm (24in x 20in)

I have been sketching and painting my own image since early childhood and the above self portrait is one of my first serious attempts at capturing my likeness in oils on canvas. In the painting, I am gazing intensely, sans spectacles, at my own reflection in the mirror above the sink of my cell at Mount Carmel Carmelite Monastery in Sydney. I had entered the cloister in order to study for the priesthood. Alas, however, over a period of time, I came to realize that I did not possess the religious vocation I had so fervently hoped and prayed would be mine during my adolescence. So I leaped over the monastery wall and got on with my life in the secular world. It was a memorable experience and I met some wonderful people while I was in the monastery. Certainly, I harbour no regrets about my time spent within the Carmelite cloister. In fact, I'm glad I went in, because if I had not done so, I would always wonder if I was meant to be a priest. It was a time of intense self-reflection in my life, which is evident in this self portrait. George and I recently made a pilgrimage back to the site of the monastery and were very saddened by the overdevelopment of what had once been such an idyllic, sylvan setting. The monastery grounds had once occupied an entire vast hilltop in outer Sydney and comprised a small working farm as well as the monastic building complex itself. Everything has long since fallen victim to the city’s ever increasing suburban sprawl. The grounds have been subdivided into new streets of gaudy, ostentatious McMansions. The beautiful monastery building itself, with its pretty little chapel, laid waste by the bulldozer’s might. There’s not even a plaque to signify a monastery once stood there.

"Gordon"

"Gordon" 

 Kerry Wright

1969 

Oils on canvas

60cm x 50cm (24in x 20in)

A number of such portraits were painted of various friends and acquaintances in my youth. Alas, all now lost.

"Francesca da Rimini"

"Francesca da Rimini" 
 

Kerry Wright

1966 

Gouache on cartridge paper

25cm x 20cm (10in x 8in)

I could write so much about this painting! Suffice to say that it is an early work from my school days. I was 16 when I painted it in 1966. I had a major teenage crush on one of my teachers at the time. It was painted on the day of his wedding. It pretty much sums-up my state of mind on that day. I was an enormous fan of the music of Peter Tchaikovsky; one of my favourite pieces being his darkly melancholic Francesca da Rimini Overture. Dante's tragic tale of Francesca, her doomed marriage and subsequently tragic love affair seemed to fit-in with my mood that day, way back in 1966. In my painting, Francesca is symbolised by the spectral white hand (complete with wedding rings) descending into the Inferno, which is symbolised by the upward-thrusting, flame-like red hand.