Silvia

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on July 14, 2011 at 6:44pm

Thank you for your response.  I confess I don't use the term 'propinquity' in conversation either, but I was searching for a way to describe both the physical and emotional/kindred type of closeness, and that's what came to mind.  I suppose that's the challenge of trying to articluate a reaction to a visual language- like dancing about architecture.  But I do look forward to seeing more of your work.

Comment by Jerry Ross on July 14, 2011 at 10:54am

Grazie tante.  The "Silvia" is an older work, I am about to upload my more recent "Angela a Go-go" and would be interested in your comments on that one.  Portraiture is perhaps my best work but I also have landscape and figurative work to include in the portfolio. I am having to look up the word "propinquity,"   that is a new one for me.

Comment by Resident Curator on July 14, 2011 at 9:50am

Curator’s Comment:

 

Silvia is a beautifully enigmatic portrait.  I quite enjoy the propinquity of the pose, somewhat softly focused but also very direct.  The figure is vibrant and androgynous, holding attributes of both genders.  Her tousled hair mimics the open wave of her collar, keeping the focus on the expression, which is also supported by the golden yellow light in the background.  The blue/green transition in her torso also pulls the figure up through the picture pane, installing a solidity of mass and a simultaneous visual weightlessness.

I appreciate this vacillation between the representation of the figure and more gestural expression in your other works as well. Interestingly, your self portrait divulges a freer or more discordant mood. Unlike the open-eyed gaze of Silvia, your own eyes are dark, and turn slightly away from the viewer so that you don’t return our stare.