Portraits in Plasma (2000-2007)
Portraits in Plasma

My portraits begin as photographs, and through the addition of a gel-like paint, become both reliquary and visionary. The “reliquary” aspect of the paintings are the fragments of the original photographs—eyes, mouth, teeth or bits of skin—that one can glimpse through the layers of paint. They are like the bone fragments that one might view in a sculptural reliquary of a saint. The “visionary” aspect of the paintings involves the intuitive application of paint over the photograph. Occasionally, this action takes place in a passionate explosion; more often the process is deliberate and meditative. This blend of photography and painting allows me to reveal more about the character of the subject than the photograph itself—an expressive vision rather than a depiction.

Judith Page
2006