portraits

We are all tangled in an intricate web of influences, connected through a network of places, experiences, people, and objects, beyond the restraints of time. Every individual has a history of consequences that reaches well beyond the confines of his or her existence. Through my portraits, I have tried to recognize the extraordinary contributions that ordinary people have made in my own life.

No one in our lives is insignificant—we are all influenced (even if unwillingly) by our heritage, and others with whom we come in contact. I am inevitably changed by the people involved in my life, but I am also changed by people I have never met—people who have shaped the lives of my family and friends.

This series deals with both specific and unknown referents, and their histories. The paintings are a form of portraiture representing specific individuals, though they don't necessarily portray the person named in the title. For example, "George" is a portrait of someone I’ve never met but the rendering on the painting’s surface is of my grandmother. The piece maps the connection from my grandmother, as well as others I am unable to name, to me, to one of my professors, and then back to George.

Some of these paintings include objects embedded in niches. These are found objects, a spool of thread or a toy—it doesn't matter what they are, but that they were a part of someone's life. The sewing implements were used to make something personal, maybe clothing, or a doll. Favorite toys get a lot of use, a lot of personal, intimate contact. Whatever the object is, it was one of their possessions, but for a time these things are now mine.

Still, these portraits are more than just a sentimental nod to strangers. Painting an individual breaks through the tension of the temporary, giving that person a life beyond his or her existence. It proclaims, “I lived. I was significant. My history is your history.” And I, as the artist, am the conduit. I am part of that history.