Susan Watson

Artist Statement for the Meeting Awareness Series

 

Over a nine-year period, I painted seven large, close-up oil paintings of faces. They are portraits in one sense, but in another sense these paintings aren't meant to merely be likenesses of anyone. Rather, my intention was to dive deeply into what it means to meet someone directly, to meet their awareness, reality and being.  

 

I chose my subjects from my family, friends and acquaintances, all of whom have some quality that intrigues or inspires me. I took photographs of each subject to work with, and my intention was to see that which is awake in them and put that into paint. The paintings are meant to be more real than the photographs they are based on - not more photo-realist (the paintings vary in that regard) but rather more alive. Because of this, the paintings need to be seen in real life, as photographs of the paintings return them back to a photographic lens. Also, the size of the paintings is important – because they are so large, they can take up the viewer’s entire field of vision, which is the way they are intended to be seen. This invites a direct and intimate experience, which is necessary for what I am trying to evoke with this series.

 

Each painting is ultimately meant to be an offering of a meditative experience of a direct meeting with an “other”. There is often a deep power in meeting someone's gaze with your own. For a moment, there can be a sense of timelessness, with no separation created by the mind. This is my intention with these paintings – to evoke deep recognition of stillness and oneness.

 

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