12″ x 18.5″ – Oil Painting on Aluminum
At some point during the process of painting Retracing Wonder, I made the decision to leave a good amount of the portrait incomplete. If you look closely, there are passageways that have been left flat and unrefined. There is a time within each painting that an artist asks him/herself if it’s finished. This question has to be asked outside the artist’s own preconceptions or ego. It’s not about the artist anymore. Retracing Wonder, with all its pencil marks, rough edges, and unrefined marks remains a perfectly incomplete portrait.
The hands in Retracing wonder are meant to evoke a sense of movement and the passing of time. They are also an expressive and emotive device, meant to suggest there may be an additional meaning to the work. Hands are an extension of our mind and an important way we interact with the world. As such, by including them in this portrait, I hope to bring more life and additional depth and mood to the work.