Looking around hospital waiting room, I see people huddling together. I see it in newspaper and magazine photos too.
In times of trouble, anxiety and apprehension, in times of anticipation and jubilation, people huddle. They touch. They clump. They lean towards each other. They congregate in very close quarters.
So I started to paint groups of people. Huddling. Touching. Talking. Conferring and deciding, reacting and grieving, celebrating and consoling.
Body language is critical in these paintings. People are approachable and inviting, or people are distant and cold. Body language reveals the internal state that is hidden behind the skin. The body language in groups of people is interesting to me…the way we lean in or away from each other, the tilt of a head, the expression on a face.
The Sorrows, mixed-media on paper, 40" x 26", 2014Migration (II), oil on canvas, 60" x 48", 2011The Seamstress, oil on canvas, 48" x 60", 2011The Last Together, oil on canvas, 40" x 48", 2010Migration, oil on canvas, 60" x 48", 2010Witness and Saviour, oil on canvas, 48" x 60", 2010A Look in the Mirror, oil on canvas, 60" x 48", 2010A Conversation, Of Sorts, oil on canvas, 40" x 60", 2010The Vision Test, oil on canvas, 60" x 40", 2010Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop, oil on canvas, 40" x 48", 2010The Glass Slipper, oil on canvas, 40" x 30", 2010Nice Girls, oil on canvas, 40" x 40", 2009, private collectionThe Cut Sublime, oil on canvas, 20" x 20", 2008One of Us, oil on canvas, 24" x 18", 2008, Private CollectionThree Figures, oil on canvas, 17.5" x 14", 2008, Private Collection