Mixed media on canvas
Acrylics, collage and acrylic inks
40x40cm (1cm deep)
I felt like doing something very different from the previous portraits. Less sculpted skin, more texture and not trying to control the shapes too much. I added the hand afterwards, and that was tricky, as the head was created with background texture, which makes the hand feel less natural.
She is picking up raindrops in her hand. It’s a very quiet and private space. I took the sense of presence from a recent trip to Sydney, Australia. Here i met up with dear friends I hadn’t seen for 7 years. We had just come out from a heavy metal karaoke bar. I know, right, great concept. We were just the right amount drunk, and waiting for an uber to take us home. The other two were chatting in the background, about what i don’t remember. I was standing under a tree, almost on the road, between some parked cars. Drunk people were walking by, laughing, having a good time. These heavy raindrops were falling on me, getting lit up as they fell through the illuminated space of the lights. Unlike home, where coming out of a pub at night means freezing your tits off, i was standing here, warm, enjoying the rain and the smell of hot city being cooled and cleaned up by the rainfall. My friends talking behind me, for a short time not with a whole planet between us, but just meters away.