KIEFERART FINE ART UP CLOSE

kieferart
FINE ART UP CLOSE

"Recumbent Alter Ego"
Oil on canvas, 18" x 36"

$650 (US customers only) PURCHASE INFO

This woman was the president of my newly-adopted art association. I had only met her a few times, but knew I was going to have to ask her to pose for me. The hair, you know. It so happened that the two of us had volunteered to handle sales at a Milaca Art Center exhibit. Before the show, I called to ask if she would mind being the subject of a new painting I had in mind. Lucky for me, it didn't take much persuasion. She was up for it and suggested that I bring my camera to the art center. Show goers were few and far between that day, so we had lots of time to experiment with thought process and poses.

One of the photos from that shoot inspired a line of thinking centered around the notion that most of us daydream of being someone other than who we are. Not that we are necessarily unhappy with ourselves in our present lives, but that we, from time to time, consider what life would've been like if we had chosen a different path. This particular pose, sitting at a sun-drenched window looking out from a rather featureless, dimly-lit room, holding a car key in her hand, was the result of improvizational suggestion. Once she had become used to my presence and the snapping of the shutter, she was able to focus on the content of the idea, internalized it and the story emerged through her posture and facial expression. Originally, I had painted some detail within the room, but later decided it was unnecessary and focused on her wistful expression and the car keys. The subtlety of expression would have been difficult for her to sustain in a live painting session. This as a reference photo was just what I needed to convey the mood I was going for. I was lucky she was so willing to think her way through the process that created that mood as well.

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