Gallery

March/April 2023

Jan Halvorsen

"Making the Absent Present "

Mixed Media Paintings

What happens to unfinished portraits when the subject cannot sit for the artist? Through a variety of circumstances that prevented the presence of a sitter (life changes, moving away, pandemic isolation), I had a collection of unfinished portrait paintings in my studio, some dating back more than 10 years... This year I decided to welcome my friends back into my studio the only way I could, by finishing these paintings. Working on these portraits put me in a space filled with memories and thoughts about the missing friend. With trust in my intuition instead of a critical assessment of a likeness, I focused on color, composition, and added symbolic elements to visualize my thoughts about them.

March 3rd @ 6:00p.m. Jan will talk about why she finds portraits so interesting (to make and to look at), and her process of painting with dry media on panels- (a non-traditional method using pastels).
artist reception is from 5:30pm - 7:30pm