PORTRAIT

When I was asked for a portrait for a gallery exhibition I remembered the last one I’d done was inspired by Modigliani, when I was still at prep school in Johannesburg. I guess I was about 12 years old.

So I took that as a starting point. Some of Modigliani's influences are quite clear, notably the elongated figures, but he rarely painted in the details of the eyes, they were usually filled with blank colour. For me, the eyes are the focal point of a person, it's as if everything else on the canvas is there to frame them. The texture and colours I've used in other work come through in different ways. It's an interesting journey, and I'm looking at people around me in a whole new way.