‘NARCISSIST’

THE SELF PORTRAITS

30th September - 28th October 2025
Australian National Veteran Arts Museum (ANVAM)
Melbourne Fringe Festival: Southbank, Vic.

NARCISSIST: The Self Portraits was the fifth solo exhibition by the artist Thom Crowhurst. Created in conjunction with several months of therapy following a devastating breakup, the artist used the process to confront his shattered ego, and attempt to heal his broken heart.

”This exhibition of self portraits follows the journey of reemerging creativity in the aftermath of heartbreak, and facing the uncomfortable parts of oneself that grief and loss drag to the surface. Each portrait represents a non-linear response to shifting internal states, rather than literal representations of the physical self.

NARCISSIST seeks to explore the illusion of identity and what happens when it falls to pieces. It is an existential confrontation with the ego itself, and a blind, uncertain stumble through the process of healing and rebuilding one's self worth.”

”One of my friends told me she had started calling me a narcissist, and i’d seen it written over a few of my stickers around town too. My biggest fear in the relationship was that she would start to perceive as one due to all the shit that comes along with being an artist.”

- on ‘Narcissist’ (Self Portrait) 2025
Oil and acrylic on canvas (51x41cm)

”In therapy I began to visualise this artist persona I had built up around myself, this metaphorical mask I’d started to wear, and started referring to it as the narcissist. In this exhibition I have shed all notions of people pleasing and perceived aestheticism, pulling down the mask if you will.”

- on ‘The Mask’ (Self Portrait) 2025 (series of 24)
Spray paint, acrylic and marker on paper mache masks (dimensions variable)
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