The deeply-moving exhibition “Narcissist, is an ongoing theme by artist Michael Souter. This show consists of a series in which Souter exposes the depth of his own experiences with the narcissistic personality. It explores the violent aspects of narcissism, its physical and emotional abuse, its struggles for dominance through overwhelming mental aggression. It examines the immersion of a victim in the narcissist’s sense of reality and non-reality. It documents the aftermath of encounters with the narcissist and the subsequent decoding of truth from fiction that typically occurs during recovery from encounters with this malignant personality type. It reveals the narcissist as one with an uncontrolled desire to possess center stage, damaging participants with crushing, objectifying and dehumanizing force.

The work is influenced by materials dealing with Narcissism-from the plays and movies of Neil LaBute to Sam Vaknin, author of “Malignant Self Love – Narcissism Revisited”. Combining words, sentiments and image with personal experience, the five part series express different sides of the disorder.