Daniel Chow 09/02/2021 Daniel Chow 09/02/2021

Self Portrait: Boy with AirPods

Dear Friend,

If my self portrait painting survives past a century, I wonder if anyone of the later century could appreciate what that white object is in my left ear. I wonder if it will be lost in translation.

Boy with AirPods

Self Portrait. Oil on canvas, 24 by 18 inches. 2021.

Dear Friend,

I did a self portrait. It is a homage to Johannes Vermeer Girl with a Pearl Earring.

If my self portrait painting survives past a century, I wonder if anyone of the later century could appreciate what that white object is in my left ear. I wonder if it will be lost in translation. For the Doctor fans, recall the Doctor Who episode when Lady Cassandra O’Brien.Δ17 gifting her iPod which was actually a classic jukebox.

But for Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring the viewer will not need much knowledge to appreciate what that object is hanging on the girl’s ear lobe. It is a classic that stands on its own throughout the centuries ahead. Of course it does help that the painting is in a museum.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Johannes Vermeer. C 1665