I am interested in how and why autobiographical visual art moves us through our
past. In other words, works of this genre return us to the memories of our individual
histories, our lived experiences, and helps us in the negotiation of our present lives;
it is a mode of seeing that fashions the feelings and identity of the self. Although the
autobiographical image presents visual evidence of the artist’s lived experiences, I am
suggesting that this mode of relational viewing has a habit of placing ourselves within
it—in the artist’s autobiography, we negotiate our own. If, as Matthias Frehner explains,
“personal history has become a central issue in the interpretation of contemporary visual
art,” then it is time to further explore just how we interpret visual art in the context
of our lived experiences.