Renaissance (2020)
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Renaissance is a photography series that explores the regal attire in renaissance paintings. I recreated a few renaissance portraits carefully composed with streetwear and shaped with light emulating paintings by artists such as Raphael, Bronzino, and Jan van Eyck. During the Renaissance, artists were focused on creating naturalistic paintings. They were inspired by the realism achieved in sculptures. They introduced the rendering of skin, bone structure, eye contact, and gestures that conveyed a range of emotions.
When we look at a portrait, whether it be a painting or a photograph, we first look at the eyes before anything else. In portrait photography, we see the growing interest in being able to focus on a person's eyes as quickly and efficiently as possible. Manufacturers have started implementing eye-tracking autofocus in their cameras to assist photographers in capturing portraits with optimal focus even when the subject is moving. This development further emphasizes the importance of our eyes in portraits to capture the viewers' attention. With the absence of eyes, I have created a mannequin-like figure void of facial expression or identity in the hopes of directing attention to the clothes and gestures.
This work is inspired by photographers like Hendrik Kerstens, who recreated 17th Century Dutch paintings with her daughter. In some, he takes on a comedic approach to recreating these paintings by placing rolls of toilet paper or bubble wrap on her daughter's head in place of the fabric in the paintings. My second inspiration is John Baldessari's project, "Dots," where he obscures people's faces with colored dots to encourage viewers to look more closely at the rest of the image. In an interview, he expressed his frustration with the repetitiveness of mainstream media displaying images of mayors shaking hands with firefighters and public officials at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. He wanted people to look at those images and artwork differently as well as with a sense of humor. My third inspiration is Samuel Fosso's self-portraits, where he takes on different personas as a commentary on African history and in honor of the icons in the pan-African liberation movement.
Overall I think this project does have room for people to interpret it their own way as I have discovered that different cultures tend to have their own beliefs and perceptions on what the eyes mean to them. This can result in people having different responses to the photographs.
These images are 17”x22” archival color inkjet prints.
