The self portrait continues to be a staple in figurative art. Beyond having your model readily available, painting yourself can be introspective as well as an opportunity for expression and even re-invention.
Here’s a link to 30 self portraits from art history.
The paintings in the page linked above are all grounded in representation, to some degree. What we mean by self-portrait is dependent on how we define the self.
Representations of our selves exist in spaces our bodies cannot occupy. We have portions of our identity compartmentalized and parsed out to various electronic outlets. Perhaps none of this is exactly new. Individuals have historically often been known by means other than their physiognomy. I encourage you, even if you make a painting that is representational, to give us the viewer some sense of how you define your self, beyond your physical form.