Untitled - February 16, 1961

Lucas Samaras's drawings represent surreal figures inhabiting a realm between sleeping and waking. The only recognizable forms in the profile portrait are an ear and red lips. Ambiguously rendered, the head appears to be either in the process of forming or dissolving. As self-portraits in an ongoing process of self-examination, Samaras's pastels embody different emotional and mental states in their bright, expressive colors, intended to motivate introspection also in the viewer. Such pastels inspired the Polaroid photo-transformations which he produced in the 1970s and which are well-represented in The Art Institute of Chicago's photography collection.