Various Portraits
This collection of portrait paintings, created between 1995 and 2021, was inspired by friends, family, icons, and reimagined pornographic images.
Galiene
Galiene Dennenbroek is a Dutch artist and costume designer. When I first met her, I was immediately drawn to her person. You see, Galiene is very comfortable in her body, a state of being I have never personally experienced but have always longed to be. Over the years, I painted five portraits of her. She inspired some of my best efforts.
Erskine
Erskine Melville has been visually impaired since childhood. I know him as a friend, healer, and seeker of truth and knowledge. This work reflects how I see his person: gentle, kind, and often contemplative. Although this painting began as a mirror image, the work eventually revealed itself in the study, as you see it here.
Jinji
I was looking for models when a friend introduced me to Jinji. She was a tall, exquisite-looking woman whose hair was always pulled tight. The day she came to sit for me, she dragged along a large suitcase full of hats and costumes. I painted her as I saw her: visually beautiful but shy and uncomfortable with her body and in a hat.
William
One day, I discovered William napping on the bluestone in the garden behind our house. Fast asleep, he used a shirt to cover his eyes to block the sun. He said he was lying on the ground because he couldn’t find a comfortable spot to rest in the house. Given his eccentricities, this still seemed extreme, but it inspired a painting.