The self-portrait or the artist’s self-representation has its official roots as far back as the
Middle Ages and history of art has noted its presence even centuries before. Zharko Basheski,
like many artists before, has made several self-portraits that incorporate the obsessive
appearance with one’s own image into the conceptual attributes of his works. By using his
own image, he follows the line of his reactions to the issues of his personal experience of the
outer world. The sedentary self-portrait puts the artist in a posture of contemplation about
life and humanity, his integration into the present society and his need to transcend himself.
The double self-portrait, where the author is glued onto himself and his familiar face can
barely be seen, implies his introspection as well as his multiplication or self-cloning, which
multiplies his presence and connects him to the reality he lives in. These self-portraits are
smaller than life-size and point to the idea of ordinary human in Basheski’s art.