Day 20/50 • “Q&A Sunday”

 

Q: Many of the subjects from your previous shows are looking away from the viewer and some don’t show their face at all. Is there a reason for this?

 

A: Most of the work I do is based on photographs taken of people going about their lives. Pedestrians on the street, kids playing soccer, people waiting on a bus…they are all doing ordinary things and may seem to have nothing in common. Why I chose to paint them, though, is because of the implied story. I look for an evocation that sparks our imagination, something that suggests more than simply what we’re seeing. If the subject was looking at the viewer, it would feel like portraiture, whereas when their sights are set on their own destination, we are invited to wonder what that might be.

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Btw, I see today's drawing as being very different from the paintings this question references. Although this young woman isn't looking at the viewer, this is a very staged pose. I see this piece as a portrait–one that still evokes our curiosity about her story and who she is, but it's still very different from the "slice of life, capture of a moment" we see in other works.