SELF-PORTRAIT by Miriam Yammad

Miriam Yammad

I stand to introduce myself; the usual thing to do. You, you also stand before the other and you introduce yourself to her. You introduce yourself to her, into her. As though, just as. She were you. The introduction is determined by the visual fact that she is to become you. A form of exposure that changes the perception of herself substantially. In this introduction, she is become Miriam. The tense of the process ambiguous.
Miriam Stoney (excerpt from Dear Miriam)

Self-Portrait is an unassuming yet complex project by Miriam Yammad, ongoing since 2008 and published by 5b in book form for the first time. In this work, the artist photographs people based on their physiognomic likeness to herself. Throughout the images, we recognise shared qualities and contrasts alike. By employing various ubiquitous technologies Polaroid cameras, iPhones, filters Yammad imbues in the work a subtle sense of the uncanny, each portrait set oddly out of time. Formally modest and playful in its own way, the series is nevertheless bound by a rigorous conceptual framework: Yammad herself is never photographed. As simple as it is provocative, the work is charged with Yammads connective instinct and a desire to relate however fleetingly rather than identify. The publication features an accompanying text by Miriam Stoney, and will be launched with a two-person exhibition featuring both artists at 20 Albert Road, Glasgow (open 31 May29 June, 2025).

Miriam Yammad is an artist based in Berlin. Recent exhibitions include:Leichte Ohrfeige, Doom Spa, Berlin (2024); Gruppenausstellung mit Claudia Schiffer, WAF Galerie, Vienna (2023); Display III, Josey, Norwich (2019); “Cut-Up”, “Sorry Im late. XOXO Echo“, Klnischer Kunstverein, Cologne (2018); Allestero & Dr. K.s Badereise nach Riva: Version B, Croy Nielsen, Vienna (2018).

Miriam Stoney is a writer, artist and translator based in Vienna. Recent exhibitions and performances include: Debt, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg (2025); Eckdaten, Brunette Coleman (2024); On the New, Belvedere 21, Vienna (2023); Bergen Assembly, Bergen (2022); Indebtedness, Kunstverein Kevin Space, Vienna (2021).