I am the many faces of the people I draw

Oscar Wilde once said,

“Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter”.

Existent,

Non-existent,

Fictional,

Non-fictional

Of portraiture evokes the artist’s soul, captivating the inner creativity of art-making, expanding the imagination to boundless possibilities.

The pointed ends of the lead lean forward to sketch.

The skin of the paper invites its clothing.

Gliding across the plains, conquering and stretching the hues of her eyes.

Polishing those beautiful pupils, giving life to her sublime death.

Presenting “I am the Many Faces of the People I Draw” depicts the portraitures of recreational subjects of reality. The iconic figures are carefully selected to mimic photographs of reference, challenging the ‘reality’ that photography captures.

The incompletion of the individual portraiture acts as a metaphor of erasure, the fear of forgetting the existence of a being. Capturing only the significant and most memorable features of the face like the eyes, the gaze or the lips, the voice.

The In-Between

“Sometimes I think the only memories I have are those that I’ve created around photographs of me as a child. Maybe I’m creating my own life. I distrust any memories I do have. They may be fictions too.” - Sally Mann

As inspired from the above statement, my personal experience from my childhood is entirely dependent upon the limited photographs I have and I am only reminded by the captured still of the moment that has been long forgotten in my present mind. I am a collector of the past, however, the track for the progression of my life is relatively vague, and that resulting into my voyage of uncovering my photographs as a bundle of fiction, also input the sense of erasure of these lies diminishing away.

Referencing from the only existing photographs I am forced to be limited by these memories, it is also to question the reliability of these photographs that display proper and happy moments being captured. With reference of the film 'Memento' and Freud’s 'Screen Memory' in how memories are being manipulated, people make themselves remember what they want to believe, in which having the ability to manipulate and mould a memory that is constructed lies to form a truth.

Using the concept of erasure as the main element in my work, where it dislocates and displaces the presence, displaying the ambience of destruction and deconstruction. My intention for this concept is to evoke inner questioning for my viewers.