The Shape of What Remains
Tracy Mortimer
The Shape of What Remains [detail] 2025
Self-portrait
Digital photographic print
70 x 53 cm
About the Artwork
This self-portrait explores identity as a shifting surface rather than a fixed likeness. Layered washes, stains, and abrasions obscure the face, suggesting memory, time, and emotion acting upon the self. Warm earth tones evoke skin, soil, and history, while darker passages hold vulnerability and doubt. The image resists clarity, inviting viewers to linger between recognition and disappearance. By dissolving features and merging figure with ground, the work reflects how personal narratives are constructed, eroded, and remade. The portrait becomes a record of presence and absence, capturing an inner state shaped by experience, resilience, and quiet endurance over time.
About the Artist
Tracy Mortimer is an artist and photographer originally from Canada now based in Cairns. Her creative journey began at the Ontario College of Art and Design, and her work has been exhibited internationally, including in Toronto, Florence, Chicago, and Cairns. Known for her experimental approach to photography, Tracy often layers images to convey deeper meaning and explore complex narratives. More recently, she has expanded her practice into portraiture as a means of alternative communication with her audience. Through careful consideration of pose, environment, colour palette, and facial expression, Tracy seeks to reveal the essence of her subjects’ personalities while offering thoughtful commentary on the social contexts in which they exist.