2024 - Bibliophilia
My affinity for books has much in common with the way I feel about art. Total immersion is the only option.
I try to see inside my subjects. While I've never shaken their hand or had a real conversation with them, I feel as though I know them through their writing. I also hunt out photos of the people I paint and try to read something about how they lived their life. Video interviews are pure gold. There's nothing like a video for seeing the nuances of expression, or the way someone leans in as they talk, or their intensity as they espouse their view of the world.
Ultimately portraiture, like story-telling, is about connection. The connection between the subject and the artist, and also the connection between the viewer and the work. These portraits depict the authors, the playwrights, and the poets who I feel a deep connection with - the storytellers who paint a picture through words.
Throughout this body of work I take an exploratory approach letting the connection with the subject inform the aesthetics of the final piece.
