self portrait
artist bio
Autumn McLeod-Whitstone (she/they) is a Scottish-Cree artist based in Edmonton / Amiskwacîwâskahikan. They are currently completing a BFA in Studio Arts at MacEwan University.
Working primarily in acrylic paint and mixed media, Autumn creates non-literal self-portraits shaped by symbolism, emotion, and material contrast. Their practice often returns to the rabbit as a recurring stand-in for the self, using it to explore vulnerability, memory, trauma, femininity, and survival.
materials + process
media
acrylic paint, coloured pencil, pastels, graphite, charcoal
process
recurring symbols, emotions through form, gesture, and texture
themes
rabbits, nostalgia, feminism, trauma, mental health
artist statement
The rabbit is an animal of survival. In light, they are innocent and intuitive; their gentleness carries the warmth of peace. Yet in shadow, they become timid and vulnerable. Exposed to fear, a prey animal is often seen as powerless, but rabbits are cunning. Paranoid little creatures that jump at every slight movement or sound, they know how to run, but their fear can also show through paralysis, retreat, and hiding.
In my artistic practice, the rabbit is a proxy for my sense of self. Through symbolism and contrasting paint application, I use my work to represent the complexities of my mind and my life. Heavy impasto and manic applications explore mental health, trauma, and feminine, animalistic rage, while thin, blended paint moves through memory, nostalgia, and the ache of lost innocence.
Rabbits cannot overcome vulnerability by becoming invulnerable; instead, they survive because of their sensitivity, using it as a strength. Acting as both a mask and a mirror, the rabbit allows me to embody vulnerability outside the limits of a literal self-portrait.
When I cannot explain how I feel, I turn toward my rabbits. My paintings translate feeling into image, becoming a language of endurance, tenderness, fear, and survival.
studio / wip
