A LOCAL artist’s attempt at capturing the subtleties behind human resilience is now on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.<\/p>\n
Ben Howe’s portrait of Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert and Sami Shah is being exhibited at the venue until 8 September as a finalist entry in this year’s Archibald Prize.<\/p>\n
The piece portrays partners Moore-Gilbert and Shah, an academic in Middle Eastern political science and author, and a comedian, journalist, and Pakistani migrant respectively.<\/p>\n
Howe said he was drawn to their displays of strength in the face of hardship.<\/p>\n
“They both have interesting stories,” he said. “I wanted to capture that but also something more.<\/p>\n
“I wanted to capture them as they are and not put any obvious expressions of joy or sadness. I wanted to concentrate on the micro-expressions.<\/p>\n
“I’d have a very-slowed down video recording in the background which I’d visit and pause now and then. The painting would change day-to-day…<\/p>\n
“Playing with duration is very important and you can come closer to the truth of a person playing with those adjustments.<\/p>\n
“I don’t usually enter things like this because it costs a lot to courier it there and back, so it’s fantastic for this piece to be accepted.”<\/p>\n
Having been kidnapped for four days in Morrocco when he was 20 years old, Howe was moved by Moore-Gilbert’s two-year experience as an Iranian prisoner on charges of espionage.<\/p>\n
“The way Kylie had come out of her experience floored me and that she was using it as a platform to do important things,” Howe said.<\/p>\n
“A few years later, a friend introduced me to Sami who also had a very interesting story and it turns out they were partners, so I thought, I’ve got to paint them both.”<\/p>\n
The piece was created out of a sitting session which took about four hours.<\/p>\n
“A lot of that time was spent observing them, how they’d make coffee or how they’d adjust their hands,” Howe said. “A lot of it was observations.<\/p>\n
“It’s almost hyper-realism. You try to bring out more information than a still photo could. I put them in an abstracted field outside of where I did the sitting so there were no links to any setting.”<\/p>\n
Howe has been an exhibiting artist for more than 20 years and was the recipient of last year’s Ballarat Arts Foundation Eureka Art Award.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A LOCAL artist’s attempt at capturing the subtleties behind human resilience is now on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Ben Howe’s portrait of Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert and Sami Shah is being exhibited at the venue until 8 September as a finalist entry in this year’s Archibald Prize. The piece portrays partners […]<\/p>\n