I love painting and drawing faces. Portraiture has always been a big part of my artistic practice. So why have faces been missing from so much of my recent work?
It’s possible that I was too focused on faces, to the point of not paying enough attention to other parts of the composition, the body, the scene. These faceless pieces feel like a challenge I’ve set for myself to see if I can still create interesting art without relying on facial details and expression. I’m finding them intriguing, and I’ve had some positive feedback from others so far, as well, so I guess I am doing something right.
I’m certainly not done with faces forever – in fact a number of my current works in progress are very face-focused – but for now I want to continue to explore these faceless figures, too. My husband thinks they look like robots. To me they evoke those little wooden artists’ manikins, or possibly some of the mannequins found in Giorgio de Chirico’s work.
——–
I’m raising money for leukemia research! At least 10% of all my art sales through the end of the year will be donated to blood cancer charities. If you’d like to help me out, you can shop my available work online here.