at Douthwaite (1934-2002) referred to herself as the “high priestess of the grotesque”, aptly describing her dedication to the arresting, often haunting, figurative work that carved out her place within British postwar art. This self-portrait reflects key sources of inspiration for the artist. She generally preferred animals over people and included them frequently in her works – this painting features Malthy the cat. And, her lifelong preoccupation with movement and theatre is evident in Douthwaite’s exaggerated hat, stained red lips, cigarette and angled posture. As a girl Douthwaite spent her childhood indulging a love of dressing up, and as young woman she trained with dancer Margaret Morris, founder of Margaret Morris Movement and Celtic Ballet. Douthwaite would formally marry her passion for theatre and art in Inanna at Edinburgh’s Traverse theatre in 1975, for which she designed sets, costumes and special effects. But reading this self-portrait as merely a theatrical gesture of dressing up is reductive. Douthwaite’s image speaks to the artist’s act of visually representing multiple selves, interior and exterior. Her ability to associate or present herself through other identities (or guises) relates more broadly to her understanding of self and of identity. “I’m in my own play, I’m directing and acting it,” she said. She rejected stereotyped or gendered readings of her work: “You say they couldn’t be painted by a man but what sort of woman would paint them?” Douthwaite achieved recognition in her lifetime but she is now in danger of slipping into obscurity as her main champions have died. As part of the Paisley Museum Reimagined capital project, this painting and others by the artist will be on display once Paisley Museum reopens, with new interpretation that seeks to critically reassess Douthwaite’s contribution as a distinctive and complex artist rather than as a “difficult” woman, as she was sometimes described. Labels don’t have to stick. You can see more art from the Paisley Museum and Art Galleries’ on Art UK here, and find out more on the museum’s website. This series is brought to you in collaboration with Art UK, which brings the nation’s art together on one digital platform and tells the stories behind the art. The website shows works by 50,000 artists from more than 3,000 venues including museums, universities and hospitals as well as thousands of public sculptures. Discover the art you own here.