Time and relationship (continued)

Based on my last post, it appears that painted portraits depict a longer duration of time than photographs. This also suggests the need for a longer viewing time, thus creating a pause as the layers of the painting are absorbed by the onlooker. It also appears that paintings made from life contain a richer relational aspect: that of the see-er and the subject, as well as any deeper understanding of the other through conversation and observations made during the time of the sittings. But what of painted portraits made primarily from photographs? Certainly there is much time spent in their construction and so in this sense as a painting they can create a pause as they are absorbed by the viewer. However without the consistent presence of the subject, the artist must project more of themselves onto the still faces in the photographs. Like in the case of David Gulpilil by Ruddy, the preconceptions of the artist are more likely to play a higher role in the finished portrait. There is less tension between the see-er and the subject, the sitter is not physically there as the artist paints, demanding attention by their presence and able to speak back. My last body of work is a good example of this. I asked people from the free breakfast if I could paint their portrait then proceeded by taking some photos and working from those. This was convenient and certainly sped up my working process, but as a method it did not help me to get to know my subjects - that is, apart from the few words we spoke before and after I took the photo. Some people I got to know better, through simply chatting with them over the breakfast, but others I never saw again. I made each portrait with many time-consuming layers of paint which in itself created a pause and encouraged the viewer to stop and contemplate, but my own preconceptions and initial impressions of each subject were prominent in the painting’s construction.

This prior experience led to my desire to avoid using photographic reference material in my current project. I want to know my subjects better, for each finished portrait to be a record of our interaction. Furthermore, my intention is to meet other people in my suburb through exploring existing social connections, thus placing them in a social context. While I originally intended to make sketches and then take them back to the studio to turn into paintings, a suggestion was made by my lecturer to increase the number of sketches per subject and to turn them into animations. Already having a prior interest in animation, I heartily took this up, and have not looked back since. With regard to recording duration, animation indeed does that, but in a pointedly linear fashion. The sketches, shown in sequence, present a narrative of the shifting and movement of the sitter during the time I was with them. As a drawn image, it also produces a pause in life - that of the time taken for the viewer to watch it.

Creating more sketches of my subjects does mean I spend more time with them. However this is an important part of my process as it lends the animated portraits more authenticity than if I were to work from photographs and increases their capacity to convey real aspects of the individual.

This shift in the form of my work to animated portraits led to my next area of exploration, that of portraiture in moving images.