Biometric Portrait...complete

"Biometric Portrait of 'L.A.'" is a small form work representing a different type of "portrait". The elements that make up the painting are a thumb print, signature, and impression of lips from the subject of the portrait. The painting is made to be a part of up-coming project which will include exhibitions through-out 2015 as part of an important collection. Details about this project, exhibitions, and the collection will be posted later.  

"Biometric Portrait of ' L.A.'", oil and lipstick on canvas, 2014

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Biometric Portrait

 

                  This is a painting for a special project which I will post more about at a later date. The elements in the painting are an imprint from lips in lipstick, a thumb print in oil paint, and a signature. The materials are oil and lipstick on canvas.

A completely different type of Portrait...under construction...

This is a new work for a special project. When finished the painting will be a type of biometric portrait. The photos are showing the first layers of the painting. The materials used are Oil and lipstick.

self portrait 2014

 self portrait, oil on canvas, 2014

Detail, signature

The individual is shifting sand, constantly reinventing himself based on his subjective views and experiences while constantly being interpreted by other people’s equally subjective perceptions. Reality is subjective, identity is subjective. For artists, the portrait has been the area for the exploration of identity for millennia, sometimes attempting this through an “objective” view of the subject by “literal” means, sometimes by trying to transcend the obvious limitations of what is considered to be objectively real and intuitively reaching out for the subjective in an attempt to find a higher truth. There is a need in people, a need in the artist, to try and make sense of themselves and of other people; a need to understand or grasp the nature of identity through the portrait. In the more egalitarian age of the digital photograph, this need to interpret oneself, to make sense of oneself and construct oneself through the means of portraiture has found its embodiment in the form of the ubiquitous “selfie”. Rather than have its importance diminish through the ages, the portrait and self portrait have become even more essential in a contemporary context as it becomes clear that what has historically been seen as the pursuit of the artist is in fact a deep need found in most people. Identity is actually an unsolved enigma that troubles us, as long as it remains so, portraiture will continue to be relevant.