This chapter on “The Absent Body” discusses the different ways in which the body can be portrayed as absent. In the text, this is achieved through realism as well as through abstract or indirect methods. The body is also incorporated into art as a tool or a means of creation, as illustrated by the self-portraits in this chapter, where artists in the past have represented themselves not only through realism but also through documentary methods about personal histories or bodily elements. The “human body” is “missing” from the artists’ artwork related to the human body, and artists use relatively more metaphorical techniques to replace the direct representation of the body. The artists use representational methods. This type of representation allows the viewer to understand more vividly what the artist is trying to portray than a flat, two-dimensional, realistic portrait. Art, rather than just showing an image, should also provide the viewer with what is to be explained. Symbols are sometimes used to express death, survival, or something else.