Chris Santa Maria's paintings at eye lounge this month form a sequence that purports to document, like photographs, an occurrence in his life, or rather, in his brother's life.

"In early September of 2005, my brother, a Corporal in the United States Marine Corp., was sent to Iraq on a second tour of duty. The day he arrived in Iraq, his barber in Phoenix shaved my face and cut my hair in the "jarhead" style that the Marines uniformly bear. I neither shaved nor cut my hair for the duration of his tour. During his absence, I recorded my hair growth at specific intervals as I removed pieces of my brothers "dress blues" uniform. The process lasted approximately eight months and grew from my interest in his choice to serve in the Marines following the events of September 11th ." –Chris Santa Maria

Since Cindy Sherman began photographing herself in fancy dress in the guise of different generic "types" two decades ago, the use of the self portrait as other has become important in investigating issues of self and group identity and the difficulty of art to overcome our preconceived notions of who and what people are. Local painter Beverly McIver has extended this practice to painting, depicting herself in black face (McIver, who teaches at ASU, and is Santa Maria's mentor, is African American). Though quite young, Santa Maria seems to have added a dimension to the form by applying it to a study of masculinity, taking it out of the usual examinations of femininity. Or has he? Perhaps this will be seen only as a gay aesthetic critique, and be relegated to a subset of minority studies. Ultimately, it all depends on the power of the paintings themselves.