February-march 2005

My work here is concerned with the representation of the individual. I use the portrait in order to draw attention to a specific individual with the hope that their image will then encourage the viewer to ask questions about the circumstances impacting upon the subject. I intentionally leave the person portrayed anonymous in order to allow greater scope for exploration. I myself question the traditional role of the portrait, and the mechanics of capturing a likeness.

I explore what effects mark and colour can produce and how these can, once laid down on the flat surface, convey not only the identity of a person but also help express a meaning or mood.

The marks themselves I make quickly, forcing them to be loose, relatively abstract in their form, while still ensuring that they each exhibit a completeness of intention. It is vital that in each completed painting, each mark and collection of marks can be judged as to their collective completeness in both form and colour. This messy completeness also testifies to the natures of the subject themselves, and allows an easier entry for the viewer.

I am also working with the ideas behind the traditional purpose of the portrait: the implied prestige of the person who’s image is capture. By using this method to represent not the rich and successful but the poorest among us I am drawing attention to the injustice of humanities self-imposed inequality. In this way the process of painting itself elevates them, if only ideologically, and reasserted their humanity.

Andrew Hollis
10-01-2005