This personal photo series is entitled Painted Faces and is a project that was created in March of 2015 and was later completed in August of 2015. The three part triptych series features three members that are close to me personally. Each of these three figures stands for and represents three different symbols. On the left the image represents friendship, the middle portrait represents family, and the right photograph represents love. These three types of relationships play a large role in our everyday lives, we surround ourselves with our friends, family, and our romantic relationships and it is through these connections that we create our own protective wall of support. Painted Faces was inspired by Helio Bray, a Portuguese graffiti artists who often works on artwork focused on human faces. 

 

Helio Bray utilizes a lot of vivid and expressive colorations in his cubism inspired graffiti work, so within this series dramatic brushstrokes of paint were used to articulate depth and dimension. Bright pigments of color were used in this series to fill the faces and upper torso almost to engulf the figures in a spectrum of color. Similar colorations were used throughout the three images to create cohesion, however, the colors for each member were specifically chosen by that person. Painted Faces was created with the intent to show the inner circle of my life and portray people that are close to me in a way that provided empowerment and also gave these three figures the opportunity to feel beautiful through the use of layers of paint. It is through the use of diverse colorations and textures combined with their own personal photo shoots that each member is able to express their own personality. However, when the entire series is presented together, this series provides the viewer with a new way of seeing color and a new perspective of how to view the three major support systems in all of our lives.