ARTIST’S STATEMENT
The portraits in this series arise from a concern over a corrupted language, more so than over the politicians represented. Each portrait began with lines from speeches by each candidate, which were painted on the canvas and then painted over with the portrait image. The effect of the words underneath gives the impression of scarring on the face and, in a couple of the portraits, the words emerge from underneath. Juxtaposed with the portrait is a small swatch of text taken from various speeches by each politician, some collaged together and others untouched. The disjointed quality of the texts along with the politicians’ oversized faces (48″x36″) pulls them just slightly out of the political realm and into a more intimate, if unwanted, relationship with the viewer, while revealing how a highly disjointed language further obfuscates who, and even what, these images represent.
SEAN KIM 