a b o u t
The portraits I paint are about a stillness and sensitivity that I experience, and that I see reflected in other people. My work is about a quiet connection, a recognition of a shared being that is seldom expressed in words.
My affinity with this subtle, quiet connection became essential a few years ago, when my senses were compromised due to an allergic reaction to medicines. Since then, I have been retraining my senses in order to process stimuli adequately. As a result, the way I communicate with others has changed over time. I've become more receptive to the unspoken emotions and quiet expressions that I believe often lie beneath our words and gestures. Gradually, this quiet language has become essential for me in the way I relate to people. I have come to understand there is a way of communicating that reveals a more profound connection which is shared by all human beings; an underlying presence that unites, rather than differentiates us.
In my work, the nature of this shared connection is further examined. The relatively slow process of painting a portrait -- the building of layers in watercolor takes time -- allows me to explore and reconsider the coming together of two people. It allows me to investigate the more subtle exchange between myself and the other, between artist and subject. While on one hand the painting focuses on the unique features and character of a person, simultaneaously, the part which involves a contemplation on oneness, on a more fundamental similarity between people, becomes equally important.
A merging of boundaries takes place between the subject and the viewer, between the person I paint and myself. It is in this moment when the essence of a person seems not very different from my own. This can lead to a point where the other person becomes a reflection of myself. When a portrait is finished this way, I've found that it allows the viewer to have a more spontaneous reaction to the work. A reaction that speaks as much about the feelings and experiences of the viewer as of those they interpret in the subject they are looking at.
Working with watercolor as a medium compels me to consider the gradual building up of an image through the transparent washes of paint. With every new layer, my perception of how a subject and I relate is deepened. On some of the prepared clayground surfaces, the paint reacts in its own way during the drying time of washes, which makes the result hard to predetermine. This forces me to let go of the urge to control every stage of the process. Subsequently, there is a tension between the desire to come closer to the subject I paint, and the lack of control on the outcome.
