This self-portrait by Jake Troyli embodies the artist’s wry wit and admiration for satire. Titled “Portrait of the Artist with Hors d’oeuvre,” the piece plays on the range of possible interpretations of words and images. The phrase hors d’oeuvre is widely understood to mean an appetizer consumed before a larger meal or in between courses, as implied in the painting by the shrimp cocktail. The literal English translation of the French words hors d’oeuvre, however, is “out of work,” a sentiment implied by the countenance Troyli adopts in the portrait. Troyli was influenced at an early age by the world of comic art, and had a particular admiration for the artists who drew for MAD Magazine. He was also heavily influenced by the time he spent acting in amateur theater productions as a student. Though he reports that he had little talent on stage, the aesthetic sensibilities of a theatrical setting impacted the way he saw his painting practice. This painting, like many of Troyli’s paintings, convey the sense that the figure is on stage or on a set, acting. Frequently working in the genre of self-portraiture, Troyli mobilizes his image as a sort of avatar to set within scenes and situations that confront some larger societal, political, or community circumstance.