The faces I am drawn to have an undercurrent of intensity, often overlooked in their everyday context. I try to see beyond layers of social conditioning, personal façade, and historical context, searching for fleeting emotions in the unguarded moments that lay bare the character of the individual. Decontextualized heads become sights for psychological excavation; opportunities to explore visible manifestations of consciousness. Every portrait becomes a dialogue between the existential realities of my subjects and myself, striking a balance between the sitter’s reality and my perception of it.

What interests me is the vitality of the image, its capacity to surpass reality. There is always a tension between the representational and abstract. What does it take for an image to feel alive? This question fascinates me and propels my art. What gives a painted face life? I spend hours, sometimes days, deciphering the lines, contours, and subtle expressions that speak volumes. More than capturing a static likeness, it is about capturing the intelligence, the thought, the emotion across a face.

I am inspired by the great masters of expression and form – the probing introspection of Rembrandt, the raw emotional power of Kollowitz, the sculptural gravitas of Rodin, and the penetrating psychological insight of Lucian Freud. Yet, my approach, while echoing these influences, is distinctly my own.

My paintings respect the spontaneity and unpredictability inherent in the creative act, but also strive to retain a coherent and truthful representation of the subject. I eschew predetermined plans or strict adherence to specific goals, embracing instead an organic response to sight through feeling. The act of painting becomes an interpretive, curatorial process, arranging pigment into visual sonata, giving form to emotion, and evoking the edgeless contours of ineffable feeling.