Partner
In the paintings of my own family for Subjective, it was important to me that the the portraits contain essential details about my relationships with each of my family members. In this way David’s portrait was especially fun to work on.
For one thing, I wanted to reveal how integral my partner is to my work by taking a wider view of the mirror that’s in my self-portrait to show that it’s David who took the source photo for my painting of myself.
Furthermore, once I had decided on a Medusa theme for my self-portrait, it only made sense to make David my Perseus—though not a version of that mythical hero who would actually cut off my head!
In their brief relationship, the son of Zeus got closer to Medusa than any other person had since her encounter with Neptune pre-transformation.
In a sense, Perseus saw her in a way that no other person did.
That’s why I show myself in my portrait of David without any snakes in my hair. I may see myself as a Medusa-like person—for the reference to how female portrait artists are traditionally perceived and also as an expression of my own changeable nature—but David knows better than to be afraid of me.
Before I met David, I thought I had been in love once or twice, but at this point it’s obvious to me that I didn’t understand what that meant.
David is my partner in every sense of the word.
He supports me in my life but also in my work—something that I hadn’t anticipated that I would want in a sweetheart.
Building this painting was challenging in content as well as in composition and form, but it was well worth the effort.
It was, in fact, much like building our partnership.
Gwenn Seemel
Partner
2009
acrylic on canvas
36 x 36 inches
(detail below)
To catch Subjective in Corvallis and see what Becca made of David, visit the Arts Center by 31 March. It’s open Tuesday through Saturday between 12:00 and 5:00 PM.
The Arts Center
700 SW Madison
Corvallis, OR 97333
541.754.1551
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CATEGORIES: - Process images - Practice - Subjective -
