Fiona Henderson

In a world full of posed and altered portraits (a barrage of adorable and ego-boosting ‘selfies’ and postings) my portrait work depicts a fresh perspective on appearance in how we present ourselves or how our image can be captured.
The square Polaroid format restricts information in the portrait and suggests immediacy (note taking), yet the analytical painting process is contrary to this:

a translation of the flesh into abstract forms of expressionistic marks, which are then put in order to reconstruct a face.

The transparency of watercolors reveals a delicate exploration of the face: the part of the body that is the most exposed and which expresses and experiences everything.

The skeuomorphic use of the Polaroid connects to the visual use of the square today- Internet life inundated with apps, profile photos and visual imagery.

I reference the nostalgia of past technology and past forms of communication used by Generation X: placing the speed of twenty-first century technological developments in perspective, and questioning what societal and human values are being changed by tehcnology.