Eye Portraits

Eye Portraits, 2002, Mixed Media on Canvas

Eye Portraits is exactly what the titles infers: portraits of eyes. There's a popular saying about how the eye is the window to a person's soul. If we take that literally, then that would imply that it is only necessary to capture a person's eye in order to capture the essence of the person. Why do a portrait of the entire person, when just an eye will do?

This painting is a large scale semi-reproduction of very small original studies--actual eye portraits. It is multi-layered, and appears to be strongly divided and organized. While it is organized, and sectioned, looking closely will reveal that each eye is somehow connected to the others around it. The grid gives each eye equal space. And while each eye has its own personality and is unique, it is also clearly part of a larger whole--very much like us humans, in general. We occupy the same space, we each have our own unique point of view, and we are all connected in ways that aren't completely obvious at the outset. Sometimes it takes a bit of exploration (or inner contemplation) to find the similarities between us--to find our connections to one another.

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