THE ZOOM PORTRAITS
I have always concentrated on the intimacy of the studio experience. My collaborators and I describe our lives to each other. I try to be honest so that it’s a true conversation. But above all that, is what it’s like to be physically together for hours, sometimes weeks, and sometimes months, to create a portrait. There’s no substitute for being in the presence of each other’s bodies, both in terms of accuracy and of compositional surprise.
However, when Covid hit that all became impossible. It took some months to come out of my panic. I could not imagine going forward without those intense and cloistered sessions.
But eventually, I decided to try to make portraits over Zoom. I began with a small sketch of Alice Wong and then went forward. These are the results of long sessions using my laptop to draw and photograph my collaborators from long distance.
While I still missed the studio experience, I am very grateful to know that I have another option for getting to know someone, no matter where they are.
Note: Audio descriptions of the artwork are in progress and we hope to provide them soon.
