Redi's Portrait

I think i'm enjoying this part of the project more than anything else. I have enjoyed the interviews, because they have been really deep, meaningful conversations with people who I love dearly - however, (as a chronic introvert) I find them very draining. Whereas with the portrait painting, I've already done the hard work with the design and I'm essentially just "colouring-in" sections whilst listening to 'This Cultural Life' BBC Radio 4 podcasts.

I find it interesting how different the final portraits have turned out from the three test portraits I made (for Kristyna, Lora and Redi) whilst I was defining the style - I was really unhappy with how the first portrait of Kristyna turned out, so I really tried to improve it, I think successfully. Obviously the canvases were much smaller, and both Kristyna and Redi changed their colours slightly - but the design has changed quite significantly too. It's made me wonder if I could paint these portraits exactly the same twice (I certainly couldn't get the splatters the same twice!)... But I realised something in conversation with Redi, after he apologised for rambling about his identity too much, to which I replied "Identity is always in flux … because experience shapes who we are". Conceptually, it wouldn't be right to paint these portraits the same twice.

I love these process photographs because they demonstrate this process of "pieces falling into place" - I feel a bit like I am completing a jigsaw when I make these paintings.

I really had fun with Redi's beard - he's the only participant of my ten who has a beard, so I'm glad I made the most of it!

This wasn't intentional, but I feel like Redi has come out looking like a melancholy Poseidon x tree deity. I think because of the co-creation aspect, where the participants are chosing their photo for me to work from and the colours I'm using, I really have no idea how the portraits are going to turn out. I actually love that, it feels freeing to create without a defined vision i'm trying to reach but by establishing a system of guidelines in collaboration with someone else.

I think this is my favourite portrait I've created so far (although I really love Lora's too), there are so many details which I really happy with how they've turned out.