‘Self-Portrait with Muse’ (1990-1994) is Gibbons’ largest and most complex self-portrait painting. The artist depicts herself with her beloved cat Orangey, held close to her face. Artist Lucy Stein notes Gibbons’ unusual use of colour, particularly ‘the leaden-sky-blue cheek nuzzling the kitten.’ Drawing from art historical artist portraits, including Picasso’s interpretation of Velasquez’s ‘Las Meninas’ Gibbons depicts herself mirrored in the studio with a still life painting reflected in the background. Around the central figure boundaries dissolve between interior space and the objects in layered brushstrokes. Gibbons' imagination and subconscious are in the painting, which is imbued with a psychological fervour