Artwork / 2021 / Mona, Mary, and Alexandra

three generations of women, artwork by Gwenn Seemel
Gwenn Seemel
Mona, Mary, and Alexandra
2021
acrylic on wood
20 x 20 inches

This portrait is an important first for me: it represents people I’ve never met even though two of them are alive. Before this artwork, I’d painted people I couldn’t meet myself, like Bill for example, but only because no one could meet them anymore.

For many years, it was important to me to be face-to-face with everyone I painted, and usually that meant only working from photos I took myself, but, as with so much in our world, COVID altered this aspect of my practice. Though the process of constructing Mona, Mary, and Alexandra’s portrait out of many photos that I didn’t take wasn’t easy, I’m so pleased with the result and excited to see how this technique will evolve!

You can watch the making of Mona, Mary, and Alexandra.

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