The Eyes Show the Strength Of the Soul

In this compelling series, the paintings render the contours and features of the face and the nuances of skin texture. Colour is applied in strokes both bold and meticulous. Enlarging the facial features of the human subjects to a vast scale and portraying them in layer upon layer of paint, I imbue them with a sense of mass and weight that is almost sculptural and semi-abstract. Intense pinks, yellow, reds, and blues erupt through pale skin tones, disclosing the internal workings of the painting like the flesh and blood of a living organism.

Exemplifying the traditional perspective that shows women as objects, the faces of women are up close on the canvas with the vulnerable intensity of a wide-eyed stare. You’re asked to look into her eyes. Whether the head is looking straight ahead or tilted, the gaze is fixed straight at the viewer telling a story. Feelings conveyed may be of joy, the loss of a love, search for trust, hurt and hope. We are reminded by looking at one’s eyes that there in our view is a being with a soul – a soul that we discern in her mirroring our stares.