Flag as a Self-Portrait – Layer it on! Aydin Hayri, 2015.  Acrylic, string, steel wire, and tape on glass, 8” × 16” Layers. Put on layers to keep warm. Put on layers of paint to cover the old, ugly, worn out. Put on layers beautify potholed, crumbling road, or skin. Layering assigns meaning to ourselves, projecting our presumed identity to the world. Layering assigns meaning to our lives, covering what needs to be forgotten so as to move forward. There is nothing original bout layering. Many visual artists have done it before. In this work I pay homage to Gerhard Richter whose 2002 MOMA exhibit rekindled, rejuvenated my interest in art. This is also a self-portrait of sorts as I continue to build my “self” by layering on different strands.  Some layers are meant to cover the old, like the blue, reddish, and yellowish paint stripes, others are just to provide an accent, like the wire and the string. Taping in the back represents the improvised nature of my layering and making of my “self.” $500.-