SIENNA REID | SIENNA REID ~ PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS | My Friends Naked
In 1996 I began to work on this series of oil paintings in Seattle for an exhibition at Collusion Gallery. I began with small and intimate skin studies from the privacy of my own body. Faceless, and thus devoid of recognizable personality they gave me the freedom to explore the figure with intense scrutiny, without strong emotional attachment. It was here that I allowed myself to develop my palette and to train my hand to react from my eye over long periods of painting from my own figure, to see the myriad of colors that make up flesh.
From these studies I moved to the full figure, again using myself as a model in a full body self portrait, in order to take upon myself the challenge of depicting the personality embodied in face, hands, feet, and sex. Over the next 12 months I labored to paint these portraits of my friends -- people who had never modeled before. They chose their own position and the mode in which they wished to portray themselves, not playing the part of the traditional model, and then sat or stood or lay for me for hours, while I materialized my scrutiny of their self into layer upon layer of flesh in the form of paint. My intent is to portray each person wholly as they give themselves to me for observation. Dialogue plays a large role in the process, for their words,emotions and our conversation play across their skin and enter into the work,affecting the outcome. I do not require their muteness, only their wholehearted presence.
From these studies I moved to the full figure, again using myself as a model in a full body self portrait, in order to take upon myself the challenge of depicting the personality embodied in face, hands, feet, and sex. Over the next 12 months I labored to paint these portraits of my friends -- people who had never modeled before. They chose their own position and the mode in which they wished to portray themselves, not playing the part of the traditional model, and then sat or stood or lay for me for hours, while I materialized my scrutiny of their self into layer upon layer of flesh in the form of paint. My intent is to portray each person wholly as they give themselves to me for observation. Dialogue plays a large role in the process, for their words,emotions and our conversation play across their skin and enter into the work,affecting the outcome. I do not require their muteness, only their wholehearted presence.
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