She Becomes Her

She Becomes Her
Oil on linen
26x40”

at the National Portrait Gallery, London until 21 September 2014

This painting was inspired by the works of Robert Peake the Elder (1551 -1619) who painted women in his typical Tudor ‘flat’ style - where there was more attention to dress than to individuality or facial features. In this painting I played with modern ideas about the way women get represented in (2-dimensional) modern media: idealised, flat and unattainable. At the same time there is a real woman behind it all (face mask). I played with 2-dimensionality (writing on the painting) and 3-dimensionality (realism).
I created the costume myself, roughly inspired by late Tudor and Jacobean fashion but with modern, antique and vintage materials. A beaded ‘flapper’ cape from the 20s, golden lace from the 19th century, reproduction tudor buttons (that don’t function as buttons) and theatrical make-up.

She Becomes Her, oil, 26x40”. Detail

I created the costume for this painting by hand, working with a
beaded cape from the 1920s, golden lace from the 19th century,
silver thread, reproduction Tudor buttons etc etc.

Me working on the painting

For an organised list of ALL blog posts that I wrote during the BP Travel Award project (2 years), please see this page on my blog!